LUXEMBOURG IN DUBAI

Five things to discover

 2 SCHUEBERFOUERINSPIRED SLIDE

Luxembourg’s pavilion is the only one of over 190 pavilions to include a slide, which connects the top of the ramp to the ground floor atrium. The slide is a nod to the country’s summer funfair, the Schueberfouer. Both kids and adults are encouraged to use it.

luxembourgexpo2020dubai.lu  1 WOODSY SCENT

The open-air, green atrium repurposes water and showcases Luxembourg’s natural beauty--also through scent. Smell Marketing, specialised in olfactory signatures, created a fragrance reminiscent of the Mullerthal woods, so visitors to the Dubai site can be transported through scent.

www.smell-marketing.fr

3 SCENOGRAPHY

Walking up the ramp, visitors will experience sights and sounds of Luxembourg through the scenography concept created by Stuttgart- based Jangled Nerves. The experience captures Luxembourg’s diversity, connectivity, sustainability, entrepreneurial spirit and beauty.

The €32m pavilion will be gifted to the UAE after the world expo, where it will be integrated into a new urban complex. Commissioner general of Luxembourg to the Expo 2020 Dubai Maggy Nagel tells Delano that it was important from the beginning that “visitors are able to discover the whole story of our country” through five senses. Words NATALIE A. GERHARDSTEIN

4 THE DESIGN

The Möbius ribboninspired pavilion, designed by Metaform, lends itself to the threestorey, interactive experience inside. The infinite shape symbolises the openness, dynamism and circular economy aspects of the country.

www.metaform.lu

5 NOD TO STEEL HISTORY

Luxembourg’s long history of steelmaking is showcased in the pavilion: integrated into its structure are 170 tonnes of hotrolled structural steel shapes from ArcelorMittal’s Belval and Differdange sites, produced from 100% recycled scrap as raw material.

luxembourg.arcelormittal.com Metaform Architects, Luxembourg Expo 2020 Dubai, Jangled Nerves, Romain Gamba, Nader Ghavami, Shutterstock Photos 3 QUESTIONS TO KIM KEVIN DE DOOD

Executive chef, Schengen Lounge

What’s the inspiration behind the dishes prepared in the pavilion-and your personal favourite? The idea of the pavilion was to show Luxembourg as a young, modern country with a lot of international influences… Due to restrictions in Dubai, some of the very traditional Luxembourgish dishes containing some foods and wine were not possible to do. So, all the dishes on the menu are based on Luxembourgish dishes, but always with an international hint, or a little twist, to make them interestingeven for Luxembourgish guests.

One of my favourite dishes is Kniddelen, which classically have bacon and cream. But in Dubai, you can’t use bacon due to halal restrictions, so I make them with smoked duck. As smoked duck doesn’t work that well with cream, I make a reduction of duck jus with fresh herbs. We take the Kniddelen, pan fry them slightly crispy, toss them with the jus, then garnish with smoked duck. It’s so hearty, but also light and delicate. It’s very nice.

How will you source ingredients? We will have to source most of them in Dubai, due to issues with the import regulations [and] halal certification… We don’t have many Luxembourgish products, but we still try to present Luxembourgish products and food as much as we can.

Are there any particular pavilions in Dubai where you’re keen to try the food? I’m actually not sure how many pavilions have food, but I definitely hope to visit all of them. I’m most interested in the pavilion of the Philippines, as my partner is from there.

Why Dubai?

 1 ICONIC PROJECTS “The Middle East is an important market for the steel solutions we produce in Luxembourg. Heavy beams and sheet piles are integrated into iconic projects there, including the Burj Khalifa.”

Managing director and vice-chairman of ArcelorMittal Luxembourg Roland Bastian on how the Expo 2020 Dubai is another opportunity to showcase its innovative know-how.

 2 NEW COLLECTION

“We’ll launch a capsule collection, targeted to women in the UAE, and have a pop-up shop there, after exhibiting...”

Fanny Bervard, Romantico Romantico Studios founder, on representing the made in Luxembourg jewellery brand at the Luxembourg pavilion in November.

 3 SPACE OPPORTUNITIES “The UAE is a space-emerging country. Its government is investing a lot in pushing their space programme, subcontracting a lot of expertise to foreign entities.”

Redwire Europe designs and produces robotics arms for space applications. General manager Jaroslaw Jaworski sees the UAE as a country of interest and opportunity.

 4 GAME-CHANGING

“We’ll announce new solutions dedicated to very large plants deployed in desert area, aiming [to] becom[e] a real game changer...”

SolarCleano CEO Christophe Timmermans on how Expo 2020 Dubai is part of the strategy to enlarge the company’s scope, tackling global challenges with robotics.

 5 NETWORKING “It provides a great opportunity to strengthen our links with local business partners and to meet clients and prospects.”

Vanessa Engel, head of non-European private banking clients at Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL), on why she is looking forward to a trade mission there.

ArcelorMittal Luxembourg, Romain Gamba, Redwire Europe, SolarCleano, BIL Photos