The Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum / Ateliers Jean Nouvel

The Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates by Ateliers Jean Nouvel

The Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum, designed by Ateliers Jean Nouvel, aims at creating a welcoming world which associates lights and shadows as well as shimmers and calm places in a serene atmosphere. Its objective is to belong to its country, to its history, to its geography, avoiding being either a dull translation of this reality or a pleonasm meaning boredom and convention. It also aims at emphasizing the fascination generated by rare encounters.

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The project is based on one of the major symbols of Arabic architecture: the Cupola. But here, it is a modern proposal made evident by its obvious gap with tradition. The dome is doubled and flat with a 180-meter diameter, offering a perfect luminous geometry drilled in a more random weaved material which creates a shadow punctuated with sun bursts. It shines in the sun of Abu Dhabi. At night, the protected landscape turns into a haven of light under a star-spangled cupola.