New Zealand on show at Expo 2020 Dubai
A dawn ceremony outside of the New Zealand Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.
Inside the Pavilion, a digital wall mimics the movement of the river.
In the Welcome Space, “visitors will see themselves reflected in a glass wall where the words ‘I AM’ in both English and Arabic float before them, interspersed with te reo Māori: ‘KO AU’”, Jasmax says.
The River Room inside the Pavilion features a mauri stone brought from the headwaters of the river on Mount Tongariro.
The New Zealand Pavilion features a Film Room, which shows a six-minute audio-visual experience.
The Film Room tells the story of “how New Zealand innovates to Care for People and Place”, Jasmax says.
A dawn ceremony at the New Zealand Pavilion.
The World Expo, which typically takes place every five years and was originally scheduled to run in 2020, has recently begun in Dubai after being rescheduled due to COVID-19. Running in Dubai from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022, this year’s Expo contains pavilions across three categories, called “districts” – Sustainability, Mobility and Opportunities – with countries showcasing innovation in these areas.
The New Zealand Pavilion, designed by Jasmax in collaboration with Haumi, Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Workshop e, Kaynemaile, Special Group and Mott MacDonald, sits within the Sustainability district and is “broadly based on the Māori concept of kaitiakitanga”, Jasmax notes.
“The Pavilion experience is centred on showcasing how the concept of kaitiakitanga is inspiring New Zealand and New Zealand businesses to think differently about their relationship with the world; to address the challenges the world is facing and create innovative solutions to help overcome them,” the firm continues.
Jasmax explains that the Pavilion design takes inspiration from the 2017 recognition of the Whanganui River as a living entity under New Zealand legislation: a world-first. “This innovative legislation marked generations of effort by the Whanganui iwi to protect the river’s wellbeing. It acknowledges the inextricable connection between the river and its people, and the understanding that if the river thrives, the people thrive.”
Visitors to the New Zealand Pavilion are taken on a multimedia, multisensory journey through several spaces, which spur contemplation of the refrain Ko au te Awa, ko te Awa ko au, I am the river the river is me and the idea that humanity is intrinsically connected to nature.
“The approach to storytelling and design within the visitor experience of the New Zealand pavilion has been all about representing who we are intrinsically; it is about speaking and representing our story with authenticity rather than talking at culture,” says Karl Johnstone of Haumi, creative director of the New Zealand Pavilion. “We hope that sharing our worldview in this way, will enable people from all around the world to engage, understand and draw inspiration from what is, essentially, a universal narrative.”
Sarah Delamore, design manager and project architect at Jasmax, adds, “We hope the visitor experience moves people in the same way the story of the Whanganui River moved us, as we explored how to take this idea and the concepts that underpin this remarkable legislation to the world. The Māori concept of kaitiakitanga and the Pavilion’s theme of Care for People and Place offer such a unique worldview. My hope would be that the design of the New Zealand Pavilion raises a global awareness of a distinct and powerful approach to sustainability, where people’s wellbeing is intrinsically linked to the wellbeing of the world around them. If we look after nature, nature will look after us.
“We also hope that the design process of the New Zealand Pavilion may inform the future of design and architecture, bringing the process of co-design and cultural design to the world-stage, highlighting how an indigenous culture can redefine not only architecture but how we see the world.”
Find out more about this year’s Expo at expo2020dubai.com.
