World Expo 2020 in Dubai: Interview with Luxembourg Pavilion Director

The World Expo 2020 in Dubai is taking place over a six-month period, from October 2021 to the end of March 2022; Chronicle.lu visited the Dubai Expo and met up with Daniel Sahr, Director of the Luxembourg Pavilion, in his office there.

In introducing himself and his role, Daniel Sahr explained that, before becoming the Director of the Luxembourg Pavilion, he was an advisor of the Chambre de Commerce to the project. He joined the team in January 2017 as Advisor (during the tendering process, etc.) and then he was nominated Director in October 2018.

We asked him to present a summary of what he does, his role and responsibilities in the build-up to the World Expo, currently during it, and also after the doors close at the end of March. He recalled that, as his first role was mainly as an advisor, he was part of the stakeholder discussions on how to present Luxembourg in Dubai, as well as looking at operational aspects, including the design (by Metaform) and he also oversaw some adjustments "to make the visitor experience more memorable and fluid". He added "I am now managing the team here and I am dealing with sub-contractors as well as with the organiser on issues to do with the operation of this building. Looking to the future, it is about closing the building which is a process of exiting which is very challenging, including getting the accounts ready to be signed off by the board back in Luxembourg, including dealing with Customs and VAT authorities, and also dealing with the organiser leading to the future of the pavilion, ensuring that the new owner is aware of how the pavilion operates".

We addressed issues including how the Luxembourg Pavilion was conceived and constructed. He recounted: "First, we quickly selected a tender where the architect and scenographer were working together to create an overall impression. It was very important to ensure that the reflection of the building, both exterior and interior, goes hand in hand. There is not the possibility to simply have an architect to do both. The 'red-ribbon' of our storytelling was included in the architectural tender, meaning that it was clear from the beginning that the two professions, in this case Metaform for the architecture and JangledNerves for the scenography, needed to work together to create the showcase of Luxembourg".

He confirmed that the overall budget is €32 million, partially for the design and construction, including engineering services, and partially the operational budget.

The construction of the building is concrete with steel reinforcements from ArcelorMittal, also with glass by Guardian Glass, with the Moebius ribbon (which sits on top of it) representing infinity. This whole structure is made out of metal tubes which are welded together. The complexities of the structure needed to be disintegrated into 36 elements with 1,000 connections to the tubing, with an outing membrane – the architects saw a link with the fabric used in Bedouin tents and adopted this for the building.

The World Expo in Dubai was initially supposed to happen in 2020; however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was postponed to start its six-months life in October last year. On how the pandemic affected the Luxembourg Pavilion, Daniel Sahr acknowledged "it would not have happened in the way it has if it had not been for the pandemic. Originally, everything was very short in time. The outcome today is partly because the Expo in general, and also we at the Luxembourg Pavilion, had more time to work on it. In a way, the pandemic helped the very beautiful Expo site". He added: "There were moments where we were delayed due to the pandemic, when processes slowed down. Construction is a process where sub-contractors work hand-in-hand with each other".

We asked Daniel Sahr about visitor numbers to which he replied that currently the Luxembourg Pavilion has some 3,500 visitors per day. He confirmed that this is down from the beginning of the Expo (in October) which is "partly due to the Omicron variant as we are letting less people into the pavilion at the same time, which was also done from the start by other pavilions. At the beginning we did not want to see long queues outside the Luxembourg Pavilion. Currently we are seeing people waiting up to 1 – 1.5 hours waiting to see the pavilion".

Daniel Sahr stressed that "while this is an important number, the Luxembourg Pavilion is in the Top 10 list of pavilions to visit at the Expo"; he conceded that Luxembourg has not yet made the top 5. He explained that "this shows that the visitor experience (at the Luxembourg Pavilion) is among the best you can get. This is based on that we are showcasing a movie filled with astonishing effects and also giving goose-bumps, talking to people's emotions. We have a number of assets that makes our pavilion an amazing experience". He added that it is also important the way that the media talk about the pavilion: the free media coverage should also be compared to advertised publicity in the media. 

Chronicle.lu asked Daniel Sahr: "Apart from yourself and Maggy Nagel, Commissioner General for the Luxembourg Pavilion, who else works on the team and what are their responsibilities?" He first addressed the organisation back home, the GIE with the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg via the Ministry of the Economy and the Ministry of Mobility and Public Works, joining forces with the Luxembourg Chambre de Commerce, POST and SES, the board and steering committee, the decision-making body, the core of which is five people. On top of this, there are fifteen people deeply involved as board members. He added: "The core pavilion team in Dubai is eight people (Head of Protocol, Head of Communications, Head of Events, Deputy Director, Operations Officer and their assistants). Taking into account the Schengen Lounge kitchen staff, hostesses, maintenance and cleaning staff, there is a grand total of 94 people involved. These people strongly resemble (cosmopolitan) Luxembourg by coming from different nationalities and cultural backgrounds".

On the issue of what he found to be the greatest challenges in his role, he stated: "There are challenges in many aspects; the greatest challenge is the visitor journey and experience, linked with getting across the message and understanding consumer (visitor) behaviour, i.e. what one believes will happen against what actually happens on the ground". He expanded by explaining that this is based on detailed content they want to confront the visitor with against what (s)he sees, e.g. the ramp with the deeply-informative panels against some visitors progressing quickly through that area. He admitted: "This is a huge challenge".

Looking to the future, we asked Daniel Sahr if he would return to the Chambre de Commerce after the World Expo is over, or will he look for a new challenge? He confirmed that he is very happy at the Chambre de Commerce: "It has been my home for the past twelve years". He recalled that the Chambre de Commerce was a driving force behind the first World Expo at Crystal Palace in London in 1851. He added: "I have also worked at the World Expo in Shanghai in 2010 which was a very different setting, as well in Astana in 2017 (an international exhibition was held in Kazakhstan in 2017). It would be a pity to throw this up into the air, particularly with the connections made in the course of this work. I would love to be part of the next World Expo in Osaka 2025".

On the future of the Luxembourg Pavilion itself after the World Expo is finished, Daniel Sahr explained: "We decided to offer this pavilion to the United Arab Emirates and they accepted that this pavilion can stay here for a minimum of another five years. We are in a process of negotiation under which conditions this pavilion will stay here". He explained that some material has been rented so it will be taken out, so an in-depth analysis is looking at the Luxembourg Pavilion as just one aspect of the overall Expo site.

He concluded: "It will be interesting to see how Dubai will see the future of what they have labelled 'District 2020', e.g. possibly as a startup hub. It will be interesting to see how living in such areas will be in the future, including mobility issues. The way that the Expo site has been set up has been a study in urbanisation. This could also be a very positive outcome of the Expo".