At 450,000 square feet, the new Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will be the largest Guggenheim in the world. It will house its own modern and contemporary art collection with a focus on Middle Eastern contemporary art, and will also host special exhibitions. The museum will join other leading cultural institutions in the creation of a vibrant cultural destination in the Cultural District of Saadiyat Island.

Gehry created clusters of galleries connected by catwalks that center on a common courtyard, and additional vertical clusters of galleries that allow for a variety of vertical and horizontal exhibition spaces, providing unprecedented curatorial flexibility. Monumentally scaled cones provide natural cooling and ventilation of the courtyards in a  nod to traditional Middle Eastern wind towers.

L’Observatoire scope includes the façade and site lighting as well as interior public spaces including lobbies, exhibition spaces, auditorium, cafés, restaurants and shops.