The spectacular “Louvre Abu Dhabi” is the first major building to be constructed
in what is one of the most ambitious cultural masterplan’s ever undertaken.
The first international outpost of the famous French museum,
the Louvre is set to becomeone of the cornerstones of a new district in Abu Dhabi.
As part of the Emirate’s long term strategic plan to attract tourists and diversify its economy,
Abu Dhabi is spending $27BN USD creating an international cultural destination.
The district will bring together some of the biggest names in architecture,
including five Pritzker Prize winners.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi, which was designed by French architect Jean Nouvel,
will be closely followed by,
an outpost of the Guggenheim designed by Frank Ghery, which is currently under construction along the coast
The National Museum of the UAE, designed by British architect Norman Foster,
which will tell the story of the country’s founder.
A futuristic performing arts center designed by the late Zaha Hadid,
and a maritime museum, which will celebrate the country’s connection with the sea,
designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando.
The 10-square-mile development of Saadiyat Island also includes a campus of New York University,
30 hotels, three marinas, 8,000 villas and 38,000 housing units spread along some 12 miles of coastline.
Originally announced in 2007, the Middle eastern Louvre museum has been eagerly anticipated
for over decade and does not disappoint.
Extending out into the Persian Gulf the $650M USD museum’s key architectural feature is
its impressive and intricate dome that seemingly floats above the water.
Based on a structural concept by engineer Büro Happold, the vast dome has a span of
590 feet (or 180 metres) and a 1,850 foot (or 565 metre) circumference.
Blurring art and engineering, the dome is perforated to create an internal effect that
its architect describes as a “rain of light”.
Despite its simple geometry the vast dome is an extremely complex structure,
constructed from more than 400,000 individual elements.
Weighing 12,000 tonnes – almost as much as the Eiffel Tower – the dome’s structure
is a steel space frame that rests on just four supports.
To construct the dome, 85 super-sized steel elements,
each weighing between 50 and 70 tonnes, were craned into place, supported by nearly 120 temporary towers.
These elements were then joined together with steel connectors.
Once the structure was complete, the whole dome was lifted off the temporary towers and
lowered 15 inches down onto the four permanent piers.
Creating the museum’s rain of light effect was far from easy.
The Dome’s steel structural core is covered with eight perforated layers of cladding – four on top and four underneath.
These layers are formed from 7,850 star-shaped aluminum and stainless steel elements,
measuring between 6 and 40 feet wide – around 2 to 13 meters – and weighing up to 1.3 tonnes.
The effect is a seemingly random geometric arrangement.
However, the pattern - the result of years of testing, including a full-size mockup placed on site
– is carefully calibrated to modulate the light and temperature conditions of the internal space.
As each element is unique, co-ordination between the fabricators and the contractors
had to be extremely well organised.
While cranes could be used for the external cladding, the internal installation of the
pieces hung from the steel structure had to be installed from scaffolding below.
The new Louvre will hold some of the world’s most valuable artworks,
in one of the world’s most extreme climates, and its spectacular dome plays
an important role in the museum’s environmental strategy.
It acts as a shading canopy to protect the outdoor plaza and the buildings below from the sun’s intense heat.
Clustered under the dome, 55 individual buildings make up the museum city.
600,000 square feet – around 58,000 square meters – of art and exhibition spaces are arranged in a group
of simple geometric forms haphazardly arranged in reference to a traditional city.
Inside these buildings are large high-ceilinged gallery spaces for the display of artwork.
These galleries have to adhere to strict international standards protecting artwork.
To regulate the amount of daylight entering the galleries every window and roof light has three blinds
– two diffusers and a blackout blind.
These operate automatically depending on the time of day, the time of year and how much daylight is present.
With its impressive art, architecture and engineering, the Louvre’s desert outpost
is set to become a key landmark in Abu Dhabi’s latest district when it opens in 2017.
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