Guggenheim Abu Dhabi

Infobox building
building_name = Guggenheim Abu Dhabi


caption = A model of the planned Guggenheim Abu Dhabi
type = Art museum
architectural_style = Modern
cost =US$200 million (estimated)cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/abu-dhabi-named-as-home-of-gehrys-new-guggenheim-407368.html|title=Abu Dhabi named as home of Gehry's new Guggenheim|last=Cornwell|first=Rupert|date=10 July 2006|publisher=The Independent|accessdate=2008-10-01]
latitude = 24.283515
longitude = 54.221384
completion_date = 2011 – 2012
location = Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi
architect = Frank Gehry
structural_engineer =
website = noneThe Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is a planned museum, to be located in Abu Dhabi, UAE. On July 8, 2006, the city of Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, announced it had signed an agreement with the Guggenheim Foundation in New York to build a convert|30000|m2|ft2 Guggenheim museum. [cite web|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/08/ap/entertainment/mainD8IO10580.shtml|title=Guggenheim to Build Museum in Abu Dhabi|last=Krane|first=Jim|date=July 8, 2006|publisher=CBS News|language=English|accessdate=2008-09-23] Frank Gehry is to design it, with completion expected between 2011 and 2012.cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/09/world/middleeast/09gugg.html?_r=2&oref=login&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin|title=Guggenheim Foundation and Abu Dhabi Plan Museum There |last=Vogel|first=Carol|date=July 9 2006|publisher=New York Times|language=English|accessdate=2008-10-01]

Location

The museum will be located on Saadiyat Island, just offshore of the city of Abu Dhabi. Saadiyat Island's Cultural District will house the largest single cluster of world-class cultural assets in Abu Dhabi. [cite web|url=http://www.ameinfo.com/143289.html|title=French Culture Minister heads delegation to UAE capital to seal Louvre Abu Dhabi operating framework|date=7 January – 2008 |publisher=AME Info|language=English|accessdate=2008-09-16] These will include: the Sheikh Zayed National Museum, to be designed by United Kingdom-based construction company Foster and Partners under the direction of Lord Norman Foster; the Louvre Abu Dhabi art museum; a performing arts centre designed by Zaha Hadid; a maritime museum with concept design by Tadao Ando and a number of arts pavilions. [http://www.universes-in-universe.org/eng/nafas/articles/2007/saadiyat_cultural_district Louvre Abu Dhabi] , Universes in Universe, published November 2007. Retrieved 24 September 2008] Guggenheim director Thomas Krens indicated that "The Middle East is one of the world's most important emerging regions in terms of contemporary culture."

Contract

The Guggenheim press released notes that "Abu Dhabi's Tourism Development & Investment Company...will own the museum", while " [t] he Guggenheim Foundation will establish and manage" its program. William Mack, Chair of the Guggenheim Foundation, said: "It is with a keen sense of historical precedent and with an abiding commitment to cultural exchange as a bridge to international understanding that the foundation enters into this agreement to establish a Guggenheim museum in Abu Dhabi."cite web|url=http://www.guggenheim.org/press_releases/release_159.html|title=Abu Dhabi to build Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum|date=8 September 2008|language=English|accessdate=2008-10-05]

Abu Dhabi's crown prince, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, indicated that the "signing represents the determination of the Abu Dhabi Government to create a world-class cultural destination for its residents and visitors.

Design

Frank Gehry’s concept for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Museum, which at 320,000 square feet will be the world’s largest Guggenheim museum, is designed to accommodate approximately convert|130000|ft2|m2 of exhibition space. The installation will be four stories tall with multiple galleries stacked atop each other. [cite web|url=http://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/guggenheim-uae/|title=Abu Dhabi Guggenheim Museum, United Arab Emirates|date=2008|publisher=designbuild-network.com|language=English|accessdate=2008-09-24] cite web|url=http://www.arcspace.com/architects/aghn/aghn.html|title=Ando, Gehry, Hadid, and Nouvel|date=February 5 2007|publisher=Arcspace.com|language=English|accessdate=2008-10-01]

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."

Dimensions

The total area of the museum will be 30,000 square metres (320,000 sq ft), making it the largest Guggenheim in the world. [cite web|url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-07-08-guggenheim-abudhabi_x.htm|title=Guggenheim Foundation to build its largest museum in Abu Dhabi|date=7 August 2006|publisher=USA Today|language=English|accessdate=2008-10-01] cite web|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=amvBsvfFGQj0&refer=culture|title=Guggenheim to Open Gehry-Designed Museum in Abu Dhabi |last=Critchlow|first=Andrew|publisher=Bloomberg.com|accessdate=2008-10-01] The permanent artwork collection will occupy a total area of convert|9474|m2|ft2. The special exhibitions will be allocated convert|3395|m2|ft2, and the proposed education centre will have a total area of convert|513|m2|ft2. The rest of the museum will be over an area of convert|16618|m2|ft2.

Artwork

The museum will form its own major collection of contemporary art and will also exhibitmasterworks from the Guggenheim Foundation’s global collections. [cite news|url=http://www.guggenheim.org/press_releases/downloads/ADRELEASE.pdf|title=Abu Dhabi to bulild Gehry-designed Guggenheim museum|date=July 8 2006|publisher=Guggenheim.org|language=English|accessdate=2008-09-24] All works to go on display at the museum will "respect Abu Dhabi's culture and national and Islamic heritage," the foundation said in a statement. "Our objective is not to be confrontational, but to be engaged in a cultural exchange," said Thomas Krens when asked how the boldness of contemporary art can be reconciled with conservative Muslim values. [cite web|url=http://www.artnewsblog.com/2006/07/guggenheim-in-uae-with-no-nudes.htm|title=Guggenheim in UAE with no Nudes? |date=July 10 2006|language=English|accessdate=2008-09-30] [cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/jul/10/topstories3.arts|title=Guggenheim to build museum in Abu Dhabi|date=July 10 2006 |publisher=The Guardian|language=English|accessdate=2008-09-30] "The Guggenheim implicitly regards all contemporary cultures and their traditions as potential partners in the field of aesthetic discourse - we are both respectful of difference and excited by it," he said. "We also believe that the Middle East is one of the world's most important emerging regions in terms of contemporary culture." [cite web|url=http://www.monstersandcritics.com/arts/news/article_1179123.php/Abu_Dhabi_to_build_Guggenheim_museum_of_modern_art|title=Abu Dhabi to build Guggenheim museum of modern art|date=July 8 2006|language=English|accessdate=2008-09-30]

Facilities

The museum will include galleries for permanent collections, galleries for special exhibitions, a Department of Architecture and Design, a Center for Art and Technology, children’s education facilities, archives, library and research centre and a state-of-the-art conservation laboratory.cite web|url=http://universes-in-universe.org/eng/nafas/articles/2007/saadiyat_cultural_district/projects/guggenheim_abu_dhabi|title=Museum of modern and contemporary art |date=2007|publisher=Nafas Art Magazine|language=English|accessdate=2008-10-01]

ee also

*Louvre Abu Dhabi
*Saadiyat Island

References