Jean Nouvel’s Louvre Abu Dhabi Opens To The Public Following a Decade in Development
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The double dome—180 meters in diameter—comprises a “horizontal, perfectly radiating geometry; a randomly perforated woven material, providing shade punctuated by bursts of sun.” Built from 7,850 unique metal stars, the structure creates a moving “rain of light” when the sun shines through. According to the architect, these are “reminiscent of the overlapping palm trees in the United Arab Emirate’s oases.” He continues:
Louvre Abu Dhabi embodies an exceptional programme in the literal sense of the word. Its vocation is now to express what is universal throughout the ages. Its architecture makes it a place of convergence and correlation between the immense sky, the sea-horizon and the territory of the desert. Its dome and cupola imprint the space with the consciousness of time and of the moment through an evocative light of a spirituality that is its own.
© Marc Domage
All climates like exceptions. Warmer when it is cold. Cooler in the tropics. People do not resist thermal shock well. Nor do works of art. Such elementary observations have influenced Louvre Abu Dhabi. It wishes to create a welcoming world serenely combining light and shadow, reflection and calm. It wishes to belong to a country, to its history, to its geography without becoming a flat translation, the pleonasm that results in boredom and convention. It also aims at emphasising the fascination generated by rare encouThe Louvre Abu Dhabi represents the first universal museum in the Arab world. As an independent institution it will use the musée du Louvre’s name for the next thirty years.
In Progress: Louvre Abu Dhabi / Jean Nouvel
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Architects
Jean Nouvel -
Location
Abu Dhabi – United Arab Emirates -
Client
TDIC -
Project Year
2016
Roof Plan with Dome
Text description provided by the architects. All climates like exceptions. Warmer when it is cold. Cooler in the tropics. People do not resist thermal shock well. Nor do works of art. Such elementary observations have influenced the Louvre Abu Dhabi. It wishes to create a welcoming world serenely combining light and shadow, reflection and calm. It wishes to belong to a country, to its history, to its geography without becoming a flat translation, the pleonasm that results in boredom and convention. It also aims at emphasizing the fascination generated by rare encounters.
It is rather unusual to find a built archipelago in the sea. It is even more uncommon to see that it is protected by a parasol creating a rain of light.
ElevationsThe possibility of accessing the museum by boat or finding a pontoon to reach it by foot from the shore is equally extraordinary, before being welcomed like a much-awaited visitor willing to see unique collections, linger in tempting bookstores, or taste local teas, coffees and delicacies.
It is a project founded on a major symbol of Arab architecture: the dome. But here, with its evident shift from tradition, the dome is a modern proposal.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi becomes the final destination of an urban promenade, a garden on the coast, a cool haven, a shelter of light during the day and evening, its aesthetic consistent with its role as a sanctuary for the most precious works of art. From Archdaily
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