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.


Size

450,000 ft2 / 41,805 m2


Project Leader