Gulf Today, Staff Reporter
The Dubai Museum of the Future, an architectural marvel that sits at the bustling heart of Dubai, is set to become a new global landmark.
The museum will be open to the public on Feb.22.
The National Geographic has listed Dubai's 'Museum of the Future' as one of the 14 most beautiful museums in the world for its astounding architecture and sophisticated technological innovations.
The Museum is a home for inspiration, open to all.
The museum aims to provide light in dark times: in an age of anxiety and cynicism about the future, we are showing that things can and must progress.
The museum’s imagined futures are fundamentally hopeful, but honest about the dangers of the present.
The museum said, “In our exhibitions, publications, films and public events, we will show how the problems of the present can provide the raw material for a better world. We are committed to transforming imagination into action.”
Fog envelops the Museum of the Future in Dubai.
What will be inside the museum?
— The Museum combines elements of exhibition, immersive theatre and themed attraction.
— Each floor is like a film set from a future that you can inhabit, explore and interact with.
— The settings and scenes that we are crafting are immersive, but also expansive: they are designed to expand what the audience thinks possible — for the world, for the future and for themselves.
— The content has been crafted by a team of the world’s leading product, media, exhibition and experience designers.
— Topics featured include the future of space travel and living, climate change and ecology, health, wellness and spirituality.
Spanning an area of 30,000 square metres, the seven-storey pillarless structure stands at 77 metres high. The stainless-steel facade, which extends over 17,000 square metres, is illuminated by 14,000 metres of Arabic calligraphy designed by the Emirati artist Mattar Bin Lahej.
The Museum is also linked by two bridges, the first extending to Jumeirah Emirates Towers, with a length of 69 metres, and the second linking it to the Emirates Towers metro station, with a length of 212 metres.
The Arabic calligraphy that adorns the facade includes quotes by Sheikh Mohammed. Among the quotes are: "We may not live for hundreds of years, but the products of our creativity can leave a legacy long after we are gone." and "The future belongs to those who can imagine it, design it, and execute it... The future does not wait... The future can be designed and built today."
The facade consists of 1,024 plates manufactured entirely by robots in a first-of-its-kind venture in the Middle East. Each plate of the facade consists of four layers, and each layer has been created after following 16 process steps.
The installation period of the external facade lasted for more than 18 months, and each of the panels installed separately.
A model for sustainability in creative design, Dubai's Museum of the Future is powered by 4,000 megawatts of solar energy produced by a station connected to the building, in collaboration with the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority.
Upon opening, the museum will be the first of its kind in the Middle East to obtain a Platinum Certification for Leadership in Environmental Energy and Design, the highest rating for green buildings in the world.
The park surrounding the museum contains 80 species of plants, equipped with a state-of-the-art intelligent and automatic irrigation system.