Asif Khan

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  1. UK Pavilion

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    The UK Pavilion has been designed by Asif Khan leading a team of British talent.

    Inspired by the Astana 2017 Expo theme of ‘Future Energy’, the UK pavilion explores the origins of energy. Beginning with the birth of the universe, taking visitors on the journey of energy from the sun through to the earth’s landscape, its climate, human civilisation and UK innovation. The UK pavilion is multi-sensory experience involving film, technology, sound and computer generated animation.

    At the heart of the UK pavilion is a stunning 60 metre panorama depicting a living, universal landscape generated entirely by computer. It captures the relationship between the Sun, the Earth and its climate in incredible detail through virtual day and night. At a stunning 40,000 pixels wide it is the largest project of its kind ever undertaken.

    The panorama surrounds a striking centrepiece structure inspired by the architecture of yurts, representing the timeless connection between human civilisation and our environment. Its transparent spokes respond to human touch with illumination, which in turn influences the landscape around it, gently altering its weather in reaction to visitor activity.

    An original score by musician Brian Eno unfolds in parallel with this journey. It takes visitors from a single tone at the entrance and exit, and builds to a continuous, richly layered composition, immersing people as they view the landscape.

    The visitor is then invited into a gallery space to discover innovations from the UK, showcased through an animated triptych of UK energy past, present and future against a backdrop of well-known landmarks and activity.

    Before exiting the visitor will be welcomed into a special display on graphene – the UK’s most recent global innovation. A wonder material that is the strongest, thinnest and most permeable material known to man, whose potential is limitless. This gallery also hosts a series of pop-up displays throughout the period of the Expo.

    From the beginnings of universe 13.8 billion years ago, to the emergence of the Sun, the Earth and of human ingenuity, the story of the UK Pavilion is that everything including ourselves are connected through energy. Our pavilion asks the question, if we can realise we are all energy, connected to each other and to everything from the beginnings of time, how might it affect the way we think about energy in the future?