One of the most particular buildings within the future urban complex of the city of Abu Dhabi It is undoubtedly the museum Guggenheim. Conceived by the famous Canadian-Stanitense architect Frank Gehrythis building is one of the maximum representations of the style deconstructivist, that is, taking advantage of a “intentional disorder that reaches clarity“And that presents a similarity with a Cubist painting. Let’s see this interesting construction together together.
As already mentioned, the Guggenheim by Abu Dhabi represents a typical expression of the architectural style deconstructivist, according to which forms of the building seem to be broken downbroken or distorted. The absence of straight lines and pure volumes is one of the distinctive features of this particular style and, in any case, despite the potential perplexity that the reader could be born, the constituted reaches its overall harmoniousness. Deconstructivism is an architectural style that sees the light in the late 1980s. In fact, it could be said that this is not properly a real style, rather representing a challenge to what are the canons of classical architecture.
The design is inspired by modern western architecture, but also to the Arab tradition, such as “Wind Towers”, The towers of the wind, typical architectural expressions of the local panorama.
Source: by Alberto – G – RIVI – Own Work, CC By -Ssa 3.0
The complex consists of different iconic cone -shaped structures, up to 80 meters highwhich rest on other parallelepiped volumes. The choice of these cone structures is not accidental, in fact it offers multiple advantages, including a better management of the energy yield of the building, and the creation of a greater number of Additional exhibition spaces.
The structure will host 13,000 square meters of exhibition spaces And the eleven conical structures will provide further space for exhibitions. The external surface, consisting of 30,000 square meters, will be covered in cherry wood.
The project certainly had a long history, with the start of the works that had been initially scheduled for 2006, but there were also important delays, due to problems relating to the budget and various land acquisitions. The works are therefore taken up, and the official opening is expected in 2026.
The museum is part of the wider Saadiyat Cultural District In Abu Dhabi, which also includes Louvre Abu Dhabi and other projects in the project, designed by architects such as Jean Nouvel, Norman Foster and Zaha Hadid.
Abu Dhabi’s Guggenheim has been the subject of heavy criticism during the last few years. The main concerns the problem of exploitation of migrant workers: In fact, there have been numerous organizations to protect human rights, including Human Rights Watch, who denounced the working conditions of the laborers engaged in the construction of the great projects on the island of Saadiyat, where the museum is located. The accusations moved are related to wages considered too low, confiscation of passports and exploitation.
