Guggenheim Abu Dhabi

Art museum in the United Arab Emirates

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi

A computer generated image of the planned Guggenheim Abu Dhabi

General information
Type| Art museum
Architectural style| Modern
Location| Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Coordinates| 24°32′22.25″N 54°23′56.25″E﻿ / ﻿24.5395139°N 54.3989583°E﻿ / 24.5395139; 54.3989583
Cost| US$200 million (estimated)[1]
Design and construction
Architect(s)| Frank Gehry
Adamson Associates (Executive Architect)
Website
Official Site

The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is a planned art museum under construction in the Saadiyat Island cultural district in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Upon completion, it is planned to be the largest of the Guggenheim museums. Architect Frank Gehry designed the building. After announcing the museum project in 2006, work on the site began in 2011 but was soon suspended. A series of construction delays have followed.

The museum is part of a larger complex of arts and cultural institutions on Saadiyat Island intended to appeal to international tourists. The museum's collection is expected to focus on modern and contemporary art from West Asia, North Africa and South Asia.

## Early history

[edit]

On July 8, 2006, the city of Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, announced it had signed an agreement with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in New York City to build a 30,000-square-metre (320,000 sq ft) Guggenheim Museum on Saadiyat Island.[2]

The Guggenheim stated in 2008 that "Abu Dhabi's Tourism Development & Investment Company ... will own the museum", while "[t]he Guggenheim Foundation will establish and manage" its program.[3] William Mack, Chair of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, said: "It is with a keen sense of historical precedent and with an abiding commitment to cultural exchange as a bridge to international understanding that the foundation enters into this agreement to establish a Guggenheim museum in Abu Dhabi."[3] Abu Dhabi's then crown prince, later president of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, indicated that the "signing represents the determination of the Abu Dhabi Government to create a world-class cultural destination for its residents and visitors.[3]

## Location in Saadiyat cultural district

[edit]

The museum is planned to be located on Saadiyat Island, just offshore of the city of Abu Dhabi. The island's cultural district is planned to house the largest cluster of world-class cultural assets in Abu Dhabi.[4] The Guggenheim building is part of a massive project to "create an exhibition space intended to turn this once-sleepy desert city along the Persian Gulf into an international arts capital and tourist destination."[5] Former Guggenheim director Thomas Krens indicated that "The Middle East is one of the world's most important emerging regions in terms of contemporary culture."[6]

The facilities at the island include the Louvre Abu Dhabi art museum designed by Jean Nouvel, which opened in 2017.[7] Additional planned facilities include the Zayed National Museum, designed by United Kingdom-based construction company Foster and Partners under the direction of Lord Norman Foster; a performing arts centre designed by Zaha Hadid; a New York University campus, a maritime museum with concept design by Tadao Ando and a number of arts pavilions.[8][9]

## Design and construction

[edit]

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi model design

The Guggenheim museum's design is by architect Frank Gehry.[10] The lighting was designed by L'Observatoire International.[11] Flanked on three sides by the Persian Gulf, the site also acts as a manmade breakwater that protects the island’s northern beaches.[12] Gehry noted, "The site itself, virtually on the water or close to the water on all sides, in a desert landscape with the beautiful sea and the light quality of the place suggested some of the direction."[13]

The museum is planned, at 320,000 square feet (30,000 m2), to be the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation's largest facility. It is designed to accommodate approximately 130,000 square feet (12,000 m2) of exhibition space.[1][13] Gehry's design features exhibition galleries, education and research space, a conservation laboratory, a center for contemporary Arab, Islamic and Middle Eastern culture, and a center for "art and technology".[12] Inspired by traditional middle-eastern covered courtyards and wind towers, used to cool structures exposed to the desert sun, the museum's clusters of horizontal and vertical galleries of various sizes are connected by catwalks and planned around a central, covered courtyard, incorporating natural features intended to maximize the energy efficiency of the building. The largest galleries will offer a grand scale for the display of large contemporary art installations.[12] Parts of the building will be four stories tall with galleries stacked atop each other.[13] The museum is intended to be a centerpiece in the island's plan for contemporary art and culture".[14]

In 2011, the museum began site and structural work on a peninsula at the northwestern tip of Saadiyat Island adjacent to Abu Dhabi, but construction was suspended the same year.[10][15] The completion date was first pushed back from 2011 to 2013[16] then to 2015, after the emirate cancelled contracts with concrete suppliers,[10] and again to 2017.[17] Continued progress awaited the approval of construction applications and contracts by the Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC).[18][19] In 2019, The Guggenheim Foundation expected construction of the museum to be completed around 2023 and that the museum would include a center for art and technology, a children's education facility, archives, library and research center and a conservation laboratory.[20]

In October 2021, the construction of the museum was awarded to BESIX Group subsidiary Six Construct and Trojan Contracting.[21] Abu Dhabi Department of Culture & Tourism announced at that time that the museum was expected to be completed in 2025.[22][23] As of early 2025, however, it was reported that there is "no opening date in sight".[24]

## Artwork

[edit]

The Guggenheim Foundation has said that the artworks to be displayed at the museum will "respect Abu Dhabi's culture and national and Islamic heritage. Our objective is not to be confrontational, but to be engaged in a cultural exchange," to reconcile the boldness of contemporary art with conservative Muslim values.[25][26] The Foundation also stated that it "regards all contemporary cultures and their traditions as potential partners in the field of aesthetic discourse ... the Middle East is one of the world's most important emerging regions in terms of contemporary culture."[27][10]

Guggenheim curators began collecting an international representation of art in 2009. The museum showed a preview of these works as "Seeing Through Light: Selections from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Collection" at the island's visitor's center at Saadiyat from November 2014 through January 2015.[28] It presented another exhibition in Abu Dhabi in 2017 and has continued to build its collection, focusing on modern and contemporary art from West Asia, North Africa and South Asia.[23]

## Reports of worker abuse

[edit]

In 2011, over 130 international artists urged a boycott of the new Guggenheim museum (as well as Louvre Abu Dhabi), citing reports, since 2009, of abuses of foreign construction workers on Saadiyat Island, including the arbitrary withholding of wages, unsafe working conditions, and failure of companies to pay or reimburse the steep recruitment fees being charged to laborers.[29][30] According to Architectural Record, Abu Dhabi has comprehensive labor laws to protect the workers, but they are not conscientiously implemented or enforced.[31] In 2010, the Guggenheim Foundation placed on its website a joint statement with TDIC recognizing the following workers' rights issues, among others: health and safety of the workers; their access to their passports and other documents that the employers have been retaining to guaranty that they stay on the job; using a general contractor that agrees to obey the labor laws; maintaining an independent site monitor; and ending the system that has been generally used in the Persian Gulf region of requiring workers to reimburse recruitment fees.[32]

In 2013, The Observer reported that conditions for the workers at the Louvre and New York University construction sites on Saadiyat amounted to "modern-day slavery".[9][33] In 2014, the Guggenheim's Director, Richard Armstrong, said that he believed that living conditions for the workers at the Louvre project were now good and that "many fewer" of them were having their passports confiscated. He stated that the main issue then remaining was the recruitment fees charged to workers by agents who recruit them.[34][18] Later in 2014, the Guggenheim's architect, Gehry, commented that working with the Abu Dhabi officials to implement the law to improve the labor conditions at the museum's site is "a moral responsibility."[31] He encouraged the TDIC to build additional worker housing and proposed that the contractor cover the cost of the recruitment fees. In 2012, TDIC engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers as an independent monitor required to issue reports every quarter. Labor lawyer Scott Horton told Architectural Record that he hoped the Guggenheim project will influence the treatment of workers on other Saadiyat sites and will "serve as a model for doing things right."[31][35]

## See also

[edit]

* List of Guggenheim Museums
* List of works by Frank Gehry

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Cornwell, Rupert (10 July 2006). "Abu Dhabi named as home of Gehry's new Guggenheim". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on April 5, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
2. ^ Krane, Jim (July 8, 2006). "Guggenheim to Build Museum in Abu Dhabi". CBS News. Archived from the original on 2008-05-26. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
3. ^ a b c "Abu Dhabi to build Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum". 8 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
4. ^ "French Culture Minister heads delegation to UAE capital to seal Louvre Abu Dhabi operating framework". AME Info. 7 January 2008. Archived from the original on 30 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
5. ^ Fatah, Hassan. "Celebrity Architects Reveal a Daring Cultural Xanadu for the Arab World", The New York Times, February 1, 2007, accessed April 2, 2012
6. ^ Critchlow, Andrew (July 8, 2006). "Guggenheim to Open Gehry-Designed Museum in Abu Dhabi". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
7. ^ McGivern, Hannah, Aimee Dawson and Anna Somers Cocks. "Louvre Abu Dhabi opens but questions over welfare of migrant workers persist", The Art Newspaper, November 15, 2017, accessed April 27, 2018
8. ^ Louvre Abu Dhabi Archived 2012-02-17 at the Wayback Machine, Universes in Universe, published November 2007. Retrieved 24 September 2008
9. ^ a b Carrick, Glenn and David Batty. "In Abu Dhabi, they call it Happiness Island. But for the migrant workers, it is a place of misery", The Observer, 22 December 2013, accessed 30 June 2014; Batty, David. "Conditions for Abu Dhabi's migrant workers 'shame the west'", The Observer, 22 December 2013, accessed 1 December 2014; Batty, David. "Campaigners criticise UAE for failing to tackle exploitation of migrant workers", The Observer, 22 December 2013, accessed 30 June 2014
10. ^ a b c d Adam, Georgina. "Guggenheim Abu Dhabi on Hold" Archived 2011-12-31 at the Wayback Machine, The Art Newspaper, October 24, 2011, accessed April 3, 2012.
11. ^ "L'Observatoire International". Archived from the original on 2012-08-28. Retrieved 2012-09-05.
12. ^ a b c "Abu Dhabi: The Building" Archived 2012-02-18 at the Wayback Machine, Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa, accessed April 5, 2012
13. ^ a b c "Ando, Gehry, Hadid, and Nouvel". Arcspace.com. February 5, 2007. Archived from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
14. ^ Bharadwaj, Vinita. "Cultural Jewels in the Gulf", The New York Times, March 20, 2012
15. ^ Vartanian, Hrag. "Guggenheim Responds: Guards Paid Competitively, Gugg Abu Dhabi Not Under Construction, No Public Forum", Hyperallergic.com, February 25, 2014
16. ^ Carol Vogel (18 January 2011). "Guggenheim Considers a Museum in Helsinki". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-10-21.
17. ^ "Abu Dhabi's Louvre, Guggenheim delayed again", CBC News, January 25, 2012
18. ^ a b Kaminer, Ariel and Sean O'Driscoll. "Workers at N.Y.U.’s Abu Dhabi Site Faced Harsh Conditions", The New York Times, May 18, 2014
19. ^ Overton, Tom. "John Berger Would Have Been Appalled by a 'Ways of Seeing'-Inspired Show Staged in Abu Dhabi", Frieze, September 26, 2018
20. ^ Crook, Lizzie. "Construction set to begin on Frank Gehry's long-awaited Guggenheim Abu Dhabi", Dezeen.com, May 8, 2019
21. ^ "Besix team picked to build Guggenheim Abu Dhabi". Global Construction Review. October 29, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
22. ^ Kerr, Simeon (October 1, 2021). "Abu Dhabi commits to long-awaited Guggenheim museum by 2025". Financial Times. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
23. ^ a b "Guggenheim Abu Dhabi 'on track' to be completed by 2025". The National. 29 September 2021. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
24. ^ Cassady, Daniel (February 28, 2025). "The Guggenheim Tightens Its Belt Again, Laying Off 20 Staffers". ARTnews.com. Retrieved March 1, 2025.
25. ^ "Guggenheim in UAE with no Nudes?". July 10, 2006. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-30.
26. ^ Goldenberg, Suzanne (July 10, 2006). "Guggenheim to build museum in Abu Dhabi". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2008-09-30.
27. ^ "Abu Dhabi to build Guggenheim museum of modern art". July 8, 2006. Archived from the original on 2011-05-20. Retrieved 2008-09-30.
28. ^ Vogel, Carol. "Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Plans a Preview Show", The New York Times, June 5, 2014
29. ^ Nicolai Ouroussoff (16 March 2011). "Abu Dhabi Guggenheim Faces Protest". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-10-21.
30. ^ "Artists urge Guggenheim boycott". Al Jazeera. April 3, 2011.
31. ^ a b c Fixsen, Anna. :What Is Frank Gehry Doing About Labor Conditions in Abu Dhabi?", Architectural Record", September 25, 2014
32. ^ "Joint Statement on Workers' Rights" Archived 2014-07-03 at the Wayback Machine, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, September 22, 2010, accessed October 8, 2014
33. ^ Rosenbaum, Lee. "Guardian Exposé: Substandard Conditions Reportedly Persist for Some Abu Dhabi Construction Workers (plus Guggenheim's, TDIC's reactions) updated", CultureGrrl, ArtsJournal.com, December 24, 2013
34. ^ Rosenbaum, Lee. "'Satellite Museums' Panel: My Interchange with Guggenheim’s Richard Armstrong on Abu Dhabi Human-Rights Concerns", CultureGrrl, ArtsJournal.com, April 24, 2014
35. ^ Rosenbaum, Lee. "Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Still Stalled, as Monitoring Report Is Issued on Saadiyat Island Labor Conditions", CultureGrrl, ArtsJournal.com, February 4, 2016

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Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation

Key people|

* Solomon R. Guggenheim
* Peggy Guggenheim
* Justin Thannhauser
* Hilla von Rebay
* James Johnson Sweeney
* Thomas M. Messer
* Thomas Krens
* Richard Armitage
* Mariet Westermann

Museums|

| Current|

* Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (est. 1937)
* Peggy Guggenheim Collection (est. 1951)
* Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (est. 1997)

|

Former|

* Guggenheim Museum SoHo (1992–2001)
* Deutsche Guggenheim (1997–2013)
* Guggenheim Las Vegas (2001–2003)
* Guggenheim Hermitage Museum (2001–2008)

Proposed|

* Guggenheim Abu Dhabi
* Guggenheim Helsinki Plan
* Vilnius Guggenheim Hermitage Museum

Initiatives|

* Guggenheim International Award
* Learning Through Art
* Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative
* BMW Guggenheim Lab

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Frank Gehry

Completed works|

* 8 Spruce
* Anaheim Ice
* Art Gallery of Ontario
* Biomuseo
* Binoculars Building
* BP Pedestrian Bridge
* Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
* California Science Center Air & Space Building
* Cinémathèque Française
* Dancing House
* Disney Village
* Dr Chau Chak Wing Building
* DZ Bank Building
* Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial
* Gehry Residence
* Gehry Tower
* Grand Avenue Project
* Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
* IAC Building NYC
* Jay Pritzker Pavilion
* Louis Vuitton Foundation
* Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health
* Loyola Law School
* LUMA Arles
* LUMA Tower
* Maggie's Centre at Dundee
* Marqués de Riscal Hotel
* Merriweather Post Pavilion
* Museum of Pop Culture
* Neuer Zollhof
* New World Center
* Novartis Pharma A.G. Campus
* Ohr–O'Keefe Museum Of Art
* Peter B. Lewis Building
* Ray and Maria Stata Center
* Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts
* Santa Monica Place
* Serpentine Gallery 2008 Summer Pavilion
* Sleep Train Pavilion
* Team Disney Anaheim
* University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
* Vitra Design Museum
* Walt Disney Concert Hall
* Weisman Art Museum

Under construction
or proposed|

* Estació de la Sagrera (2012)
* World Trade Center Performing Arts Center (2015)
* Guggenheim Abu Dhabi (2017)
* Philadelphia Museum of Art Expansion (on hold)

Furniture design|

* Easy Edges (1969–1973)

Concepts|

* Cardboard furniture
* Digital Project
* Organization of the artist

Pop culture|

* "The Seven-Beer Snitch"
* Sketches of Frank Gehry

* Commons
* Wikibooks
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* Wikiquote

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Developments in Abu Dhabi

Museums|

* Guggenheim Abu Dhabi
* Louvre Abu Dhabi
* Zayed National Museum

Transport|

* Port Zayed

* Salam Street

Islands|

* Al Lulu Island
* Al Maryah Island
* Al Reem Island
* Saadiyat Island
* Yas Island
* Al Fahid Island

Other projects|

* Al Raha
* Capital Centre
* Central Market Project
* Masdar City
* Shams Abu Dhabi
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List of tallest buildings in Abu Dhabi

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Emirate of Abu Dhabi

Cities and areas|

* Abu al Abyad
* Abu Dhabi
* Al Ain
* Al-Aryam Island
* Al Faqa (shared with Dubai)
* Al Yahar
* Al Maryah Island
* Al Mushrif
* Al Nahyan
* Al-Wathbah
* Dalma
* Das Island
* Habshan
* Halat al Bahrani
* Khalifa City
* Liwa Oasis
* Madinat Zayed
* Marawah
* Mussafah
* Remah
* Ruwais
* Sila
* Sir Bani Yas
* Abu Dhabi Global Market
* Swaihan
* Yas Island
* Al Fahid Island

Municipal regions|

* Abu Dhabi Region
* Adh-Dhafrah (Gharbiyyah, Western) Region
* Al-Ain (Sharqiyyah, Eastern) Region

Government|

* Al Nahyan family (Royal House)
* Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Ruler)

Culture|

Cultural property of national significance in Abu Dhabi

* Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation
* Al Ain National Museum
* Guggenheim Abu Dhabi
* Louvre Abu Dhabi
* Qasr al-Hosn
* Qasr Al Watan
* Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
* Sheikh Zayed Palace Museum
* Zayed National Museum

Transport|

* Abu Dhabi International Airport
* Al Ain International Airport
* Mussafah Bridge
* Port Zayed
* Salam Street
* Sheikh Zayed Bridge

Infrastructure|

* Al Lulu Island
* Al Nahyan Stadium
* Al Raha
* Al Reem Island
* Central Market Project
* Khalifa Port
* Kizad
* Masdar City
* Saadiyat Island
* Al Fahid Island
* Tallest buildings

History|

* Timeline of Abu Dhabi (city)
* 1922 Dhabyani coup d'état
* 1926 Dhabyani coup d'état
* 1928 Dhabyani coup d'état
* 1954-1955 Dhabyani coup attempt
* 1966 Dhabyani coup d'état
* 2011 Dhabyani coup attempt

Sister Cities|

* Houston
* Madrid
* Rahim Yar Khan

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