Source : the age
One is renowned for its stratospheric high towers, as exemplified by the Burj Khalifa; the other, increasingly so, for its ambitious high culture, as evidenced by its own Paris spin-off Louvre Museum.
Now in 2025, an always somewhat more restrained and refined Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, is set to finally give its glitzier, more visited, neighbour, Dubai, a real run for its dirhams.
A landmark takes shape … Guggenheim Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi will this year see its grandiose, and at times controversial, Saadiyat Cultural District finally near completion with Guggenheim Abu Dhabi the next high-profile component of the almost 2.5-square-kilometre precinct following the Louvre’s 2017 opening.
Close to the Jean Nouvel-designed Louvre, the complex construction designed by starchitect Frank Gehry is inspired by the cooling nature of traditional Middle Eastern covered courtyards and wind towers.
Long delayed and still agonisingly slow to take shape, the Guggenheim features nine cone-shaped structures protruding from the main core of the building, with each designed to serve as exhibition spaces displaying 20th and 21st contemporary artworks.
A render of Abu Dhabi’s teamLab Phenomena.
As late as last year, a collection of cranes still surrounded the building, which is vaguely reminiscent of Gehry’s famed Guggenheim Bilbao masterpiece in Spain. However, it was still possible to glean a good sense of how the Abu Dhabi complex will appear when finished.
Much closer to opening is the more populist teamLab Phenomena, the elaborate permanent venue for the Abu Dhabi branch of the Japanese multisensory art collective sensation.
Nearly finished, too, is the new Zayed National Museum. Designed by Britain’s Foster + Partners, this building is dominated by five graceful lightweight steel structures, reminiscent of butterfly wings, “aerodynamically sculpted” to act as solar thermal towers.
The vision for the Zayed National Museum, Abu Dhabi.
But, wait, there’s even more, with a Natural History Museum also planned. Its centrepiece attraction is the world-famous skeleton of “Stan” the Tyrannosaurus rex, purchased by the museum in 2022 for almost $32 million.
Little surprise, then, that Abu Dhabi made it onto the latest The New York Times’ prestigious “52 Places to Go” list. One can only wonder what Dubai will do in response.
The writer visited as a guest of Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental, Viking Cruises and Etihad. See mandarinoriental.com; vikingcruises.com.au; etihad.com
