‘Museum of the Future’ among world’s most beautiful

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 of the Future, an architectural marvel that sits at the bustling heart of Dubai, is set to become a new global landmark when complete. It reflects the ambitions of Dubai, the City of the Future, and is the UAE’s and the world’s gateway to the future with its design and technologies.

The engineering icon positions Dubai as a testbed for emerging technologies and an exploration base for talent, inventors, and creative professionals from all over the world to unravel the greatest challenges that will shape the future of humanity.

Spanning 30,000 square meters, the seven-story pillarless structure stands 77 meters high. The stainless-steel facade, which extends over 17,000 square meters, is illuminated by 14,000 meters 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 meters, and the second to the Emirates Towers metro station, with a length of 212 meters.

The Arabic calligraphy that adorns the facade includes quotes by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. 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 façade consists of 1,024 plates manufactured entirely by robots in a first-of-its-kind venture in the Middle East. Each plate of the façade consists of four layers, and each layer has been created after following 16 process steps. The installation period of the external façade lasted for more than 18 months, and each of the panels was 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. When completed, 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.

The Museum of the Future has won the Tikla International Building Award as a unique architectural model. Autodesk Design Software stated that the Museum is one of the most innovative buildings in the world. The building was designed by Engineer Sean Keila.