Dubai’s iconic projects taking shape
OVAL-SHAPED MUSEUM OF THE FUTURE AND BOOK REST-SHAPED MOHAMMAD BIN RASHID LIBRARY NOW DISCERNIBLE
Two major projects in Dubai, the Museum of the Future and Mohammad Bin Rashid Library, are progressing fast, with their distinctive shapes now becoming obvious.
The Museum of the Future, coming up in front of Emirates Towers on Shaikh Zayed Road, is oval-shaped with an oval open space in its centre, somewhat similar to an eye or an egg.
At the moment, the metal frame can be seen, with interconnected parts taking on the oval design. When completed in 2019, the landmark will have a shiny, smooth exterior, with Arabic writing on it.
The project is an initiative of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announced in 2015. Unlike other museums, it will not be home to relics of the past, but rather, as its name suggest, it will be an incubator of innovation — of what future technologies and the lifestyles changed by them may look like.
The building is designed by Killa Design and has caught the attention of press and architects worldwide.
However, the museum is not just a building and the establishment behind it is already active. Last month, the Museum of the Future launched a sixweek accelerator programme designed to attract technology companies that can provide new solutions for futuristic visitor experiences. Meanwhile, motorists driving down Al Khail Road near Business Bay, on the Jaddaf side, can now clearly see a book rest-shaped structure being built. The unique site is the under-construction Mohammad Bin Rashid Library, a project of Dubai Municipality.
Though it looks like a thick book opened from the middle, it is actually meant to represent a rehl, the Arabic word for a traditional lectern, a bookstand or book rest. The rehl carries books in general but more specifically the Quran.
“In the same way a library carries and preserves the cultural treasures of a nation in the form of literature, periodicals and audiovisual media, the architectural concept of the library is based symbolically on the lectern, the rehl, and translates this into a modern 21st century vocabulary,” the municipality says.
True to Dubai’s vision, besides paper books there will be millions of audiovisual materials and e-books in the library, scheduled to open later this year. It is being built for the Mohammad Bin Rashid Library Foundation.