# ABU DHABI | Saadiyat Cultural District (Zayed National Museum, Guggenheim, Louvre, Abrahamic Family House)



## Þróndeimr (Jan 14, 2003)

Saadiyat Cultural District

The Saadiyat Cultural District will be home to four major institutions designed by internationally renowned architects, including the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, 
designed by Frank Gehry; the Louvre Abu Dhabi designed by Jean Nouvel; the Performing Arts Center designed by Zaha Hadid; and the Zayed National Museum 
designed by Norman Foster; as well as and a park with pavilions designed to host international art, architecture, and other cultural fairs and events. It will also 
boast city-facing quayside hotels, exclusive villas, and shops.

The guiding principles for the Saadiyat Cultural District are to make it, by definition, a destination that everyone in the world of art and culture would visit 
regularly. By building this set of permanent institutions, the Saadiyat Cultural District is poised to have the world’s greatest concentration of cultural experiences.


Jump to *Guggenheim Abu Dhabi*, *Abu Dhabi Performing Arts Centre*, *Louvre Abu Dhabi*, *Zayed National Museum*

View the renderings in high resolution

Masterplan of the entire Saadiyat Island development. The cultural District is located on the eastern tip (leftmost tip on the rendering) of the island.


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## Þróndeimr (Jan 14, 2003)

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi
Under construction, 2010-2013. By Gehry Partners

Frank Gehry’s concept for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Museum, which at 320,000 square feet (30,000 m2) will be the world’s largest Guggenheim museum, is 
designed to accommodate approximately 130,000 square feet (12,000 m2) of exhibition space. The installation will be four stories tall with multiple galleries stacked 
atop each other.

Gehry was inspired by the location and the intent, noting, "The landscape, the opportunity, the requirement, to build something that people all over the world 
would come to and the possible resource to accomplish it opened tracks that were not likely to be considered anywhere else. The site itself, virtually on the water 
or close to the water on all sides, in a desert landscape with the beautiful sea and the light quality of the place suggested some of the direction." The crown 
prince said of Gehry's work that "Just as Bilbao established a new level of design and excellence, Gehry's Guggenheim Abu Dhabi design brief is to push the 
boundaries of his own architectural practice and set the benchmark for museums."

The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is planned to be a dynamic, world–class institution devoted to the acquisition and display of Modern and contemporary art, recognized 
for the excellence of its architecture, collections, exhibitions, and education programs.

The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will promote the understanding and appreciation of art and visual culture, while projecting the highest standards of quality and 
reaching the widest possible international audience. While decidedly global in perspective, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will uniquely emphasize the cultural 
traditions and influences of Arabian, Islamic, and other Middle Eastern art in the context of the major developments of the 20th and 21st centuries. In short, the 
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will be committed to representing the international nature of Modern and contemporary art, presenting key aspects of the Western 
historical canon while simultaneously highlighting the richness and diversity of Asian, African, South American, and Middle Eastern art during this period. 

The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will place a strong emphasis on education and will seek to complement and collaborate with local and regional arts and cultural 
institutions. It will seek to provide opportunities for a unique, deep, and varied visitor experience that is different from the other Guggenheim museums and from 
major art institutions in the Middle East.


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## Þróndeimr (Jan 14, 2003)

Abu Dhabi Performing Arts Centre
Under construction, 2010-2013. By Zaha Hadid

The Performing Arts Centre will be a hub of cutting-edge theatre, music and dance from around the world. Designed by celebrated Iraqi/British architect Zaha 
Hadid, the Centre will house a music hall, concert hall, opera house, drama theatre, an experimental performance space, as well as an Academy of Performing 
Arts.

Extending the Cultural District’s philosophy throughout all mediums, the Performing Arts Centre will be a celebration of all forms of artistic performance. 
Contemporary and classical music, ballet, opera, movement theatre, dramatic and experimental performance will all be on display, and will feature some of the 
top artists from both the region and around the world.

Zaha Hadid´s inspiration for the Performing Arts Centre was drawn from the organisational forms within organic structures. One can see in her design motifs 
references to natural shapes – leaves, stems, buds, fruits and branches. Likewise, the enclosed spaces are engineered to maximise natural energies, from large 
windows capturing daylight to the orientation of spaces to enhance acoustics. Like fruits on a vine, the theatres face westward to the water, and lobbies 
afford glorious sea views to keep each visitor in constant visual contact with the surrounding environment.









Illustration by Zaha Hadid









Illustration by Zaha Hadid









Illustration by Zaha Hadid









Illustration by Zaha Hadid









Illustration by Zaha Hadid


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## Þróndeimr (Jan 14, 2003)

Louvre Abu Dhabi
Under construction, 2010-2012. By Jean Nouvel

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is about to become one of the world's premier art galleries. The new gallery has brokered a deal with the Louvre in Paris (French 
Museums Agency and the Ministry of Culture and Communications) to adopt the name, lend works of art and stage special exhibitions.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi will be a 24,200m² (260,000ft²) complex covered by an umbrella-like roof. The building, which has been designed by the French 
architect Jean Nouvel, is planned as a universal museum, including art from all eras and regions, including Islamic art.

Designed as a seemingly floating dome structure, Nouvel's concept has been described as an engineering feat. Its web-patterned dome allows the sun to filter 
through, reminiscent of rays passing through date palm fronds in an oasis.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi will have 6,000m² of galleries devoted to permanent displays and 2,000m² for temporary exhibitions. The galleries will open to the 
public in successive phases.

Over the next decade, Abu Dhabi is also expected to spend about €400m building its own collection and the French Museums Agency is expected to play an 
advisory role. The Louvre Abu Dhabi will exhibit major artefacts and works in archaeology, the fine arts and decorative arts from all historic periods, but 
predominantly classical.

The gallery will be named after Sheik Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, founder and long-time ruler of the United Arab Emirates, who died in 2004. The museum 
will cost €83m ($108m) to build.

The use of the Louvre name (for a period of 30 years) is costing €400m. In exchange for art loans, special exhibitions and management advice, Abu Dhabi 
will pay France a further €575m (Abu Dhabi has also agreed to make a direct donation of €25m to the Louvre itself to refurbish a wing of the Pavillon de 
Flore). The total brokered deal is €975m ($1.3bn).

The Abu Dhabi Louvre museum will open in 2012. The deal has been steeped in controversy as France has been accused of selling its museums. But for 
Abu Dhabi this project is just a small part of a cultural and tourist development project for Saadiyat Island (island of happiness) costing over €20.7bn.

The project's cultural components include a Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, a maritime museum and a performing arts centre as well as the Louvre Abu Dhabi. 
Abu Dhabi's ruler, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has decided to make the island one of the world's top cultural destinations and a 'beacon for 
cultural experience and exchange'. There will also be an entertainment centre, and a Biennale Park with 19 pavilions as well as luxury hotels, golf courses and 
recreational ports.

Abu Dhabi is also due to finance a new art research centre in France and pay for the restoration of the Château de Fontainebleau's theatre, which will be named 
after Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.









Illustration by Artefactorylab









Illustration by Artefactorylab









Illustration by Artefactorylab









Illustration by Artefactorylab









Illustration by Artefactorylab









Illustration by Artefactorylab


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## Þróndeimr (Jan 14, 2003)

Zayed National Museum
Under construction, 2010-2012. By Foster + Partners

Conceived as a monument and memorial to the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding president of the UAE, the Zayed National Museum will be 
the centrepiece of the Saadiyat Island Cultural District and will showcase the history, culture and, more recently, the social and economic transformation of 
the Emirates. Architecturally, the aim has been to combine a highly efficient, contemporary form with elements of traditional Arabic design and hospitality to 
create a museum that is sustainable, welcoming and culturally of its place. Celebrating Sheikh Zayed’s legacy and love of nature, the museum is set within a 
landscaped garden, based on a timeline of his life.

The display spaces are housed within a man-made, landscaped mound and the galleries are placed at the bases of five lightweight steel structures, sculpted 
aerodynamically to work like the feathers of a bird’s wing – a deliberate analogy with Sheikh Zayed’s love of falconry. The solar thermal towers heat up and act 
as thermal chimneys to draw cooling air currents naturally through the museum. Fresh air is captured at low level and drawn through buried ground-cooling pipes 
and then released into the museum’s lobby. The heat at the top of the towers works to draw the air up vertically through the galleries due to the thermal stack 
effect. Air vents open at the top of the wing-shaped towers taking advantage of the negative pressure on the lee of the wing profile to draw the hot air out.

Balancing the lightweight steel structures with a more monumental interior experience, the galleries are anchored by a dramatic top-lit central lobby, which is dug 
into the earth to exploit its thermal properties and brings together shops, cafes, an auditorium and informal venues for performances of poetry and dance. 
Throughout, the treatment of light and shade draws on a tradition of discreet, carefully positioned openings, which capture and direct the region’s intense 
sunlight to illuminate and animate these interior spaces. Objects are displayed within niches and on stone plinths that rise seamlessly from the floor.

View the renderings in high resolution









Illustration by Vyonyx









Illustration by Vyonyx









Illustration by Vyonyx









Illustration by Vyonyx


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## Þróndeimr (Jan 14, 2003)

Some construction images from the site.

Zayed National Museum closest, Guggenheim to the upper right, Louvre on upper left.









Zayed National Museum construction ground.


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## Dubai_Boy (May 21, 2003)

Thanks for creating this thread  I drive through this Island to get to work everyday

Really excited to see this place completed and working so closely to every major development in Abu Dhabi i would say the Quality and effort put into saadiyat island is the best in comparison.


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## Munwon (Dec 9, 2010)

Saw on a documentary that the Abu Dhabi Guggenheim will be so big that it can fit the New York Guggenheim in it's lobby!!! Huge!!!


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## el palmesano (May 27, 2006)

just one of the most wonderful projects all around the world, the best area of the city in the future


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## Kuwaiti (Sep 24, 2005)

..


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## Baytar (Jan 8, 2011)

very nice :cheers:


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## Xtremizta (Feb 23, 2010)

WOW


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## Big Cat (Dec 1, 2008)

It's so fantastic!


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## love-qatar (May 10, 2008)

very nice
go AD


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## Men Mad (Sep 23, 2010)

wow! que bien


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## UAE_isthebest (Dec 3, 2007)

Fantastic building designs!


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## Adam2707 (Dec 10, 2006)




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## Ace! (May 22, 2008)

*What happened to the one from Tadao Ando?!!!*










image source: http://www.dezeen.com/2007/01/31/gehry-nouvel-ando-and-hadid-build-in-abu-dhabi/


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## Þróndeimr (Jan 14, 2003)

^^ its not located in the Saadiyat Cultural District, but further south on Saadiyat Island.


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## Ace! (May 22, 2008)

Þróndeimr said:


> ^^ its not located in the Saadiyat Cultural District, but further south on Saadiyat Island.


Ah, ok! I hope it gets built!


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