A bit of France on Arab sands? Yes, topped by an enormous signature dome of overlapping geometric lattices that weight more than 7,500 tonnes, the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, opened to the public on November 11, 2017. The new museum showcases hundreds of works of art from around the world, ancient as well as contemporary. It is approximately 24,000 square metres (260,000 sq ft) in size, with 8,000 square metres (86,000 sq ft) of galleries, making it the largest art museum in the Arabian peninsula.
55 heterogeneous buildings are sheltered under one gargantuan dome at the Louvre. Described as ‘Arabic-Galactic’ by the New York Times, the dome is a reinterpretation of the traditional Arab dome. 180metres in span, the dome purportedly weighs as much as the Eiffel Tower, despite its seeming ‘floating’ appearance. Nouvel’s architecture seems to converse with nature.
Under the dome, the Pritzker Prize-winning architect’s “museum city” is formed like a cluster of man-made islands. Spread out across the sea, its marble-clad walls sparkle as sunlight is reflected off the water. Not wanting to merely mimic traditional Arabic architecture, Nouvel reinterpreted the traditional settlements of the region through his “modern proposal”. Meandering streets, covered piazzas and inlets for water, echo the mysterious feeling of an Arabic village, where the atmosphere brims with the possibility of chance encounters at every turn.
Picture Credit : Google