Part of the ambitious Saadiyat Cultural District, the mega museum has just unveiled its digital presence.
By now, we’re no stranger to visually striking structures like Museum of the Future, Abrahamic Family House, and Atlantis The Royal making headlines worldwide before they’ve even debuted — and Zayed National Museum is no different. Slowly taking shape like the wings of a falcon mid-flight, this mega museum designed by the famed Foster + Partners will be the centrepiece of Saadiyat Cultural District when it opens in 2025. And in the meantime? Its new digital presence has been unveiled with the launch of its website and social media channels (Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and X included), collectively offering a glimpse of what to expect.
Embodying Zayed National Museum’s dedication to celebrating the rich history, culture and stories of the UAE, the website offers a glimpse into its collection, educational offerings, and research initiatives. A larger-than-life tribute to the life and achievements of founding father Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the eponymous cultural institution will traverse the UAE’s journey from the ancient past to the present day, spanning 300,000 years in the process. As a result, the exhibits within will showcase the history, culture and, more recently, the social and economic transformation of the country through six permanent galleries, one temporary exhibition space, and one outdoor gallery.
The aptly named Our Beginning gallery will shed new light on the life, legacy and values of Sheikh Zayed through immersive forms of storytelling before guiding visitors through early evidence of human activity in the region, the development of the Arabic language, the spread of Islam, and the nuances of Emirati identity. Delving into the likes of pearling and fishing, the By Our Coasts gallery will focus on the development of key coastal settlements and examine their role as catalysts for commercial and cultural exchange. Browsing the newly launched website reveals that museumgoers can expect to view everything from Abiel coins and Abbasid lamps to a one-dirham banknote that dates back to the 1970s. Al Masar Garden, meanwhile, will tell the story of Sheikh Zayed through the landscapes that inspired him, featuring native plants in three zones: desert, oasis and urban.
Structurally speaking, the galleries are housed within a mound, whose form is an abstraction of the topography of the seven emirates. Above this rise those five soaring steel structures, sculpted aerodynamically to act as solar thermal towers. Balancing these structures with a more monumental interior experience, pod-shaped galleries are suspended over a dramatic top-lit central lobby, which is dug into the earth to exploit its thermal properties and brings together shops, cafés and informal venues for poetry and dance performances. Masterfully playing with light and shade, Foster + Partners has also designed discreet, carefully positioned openings to ingeniously illuminate and animate the museum’s sculptural interior spaces with the intense sunlight that’s accessible all year round. An exact opening date has yet to be announced, but needless to say, the museum is bound to become the capital’s ultimate edutainment venue in no time.
DSCVR: Zayed National Museum. Saadiyat Cultural District, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi. @znmuae
