Slated to complete in 2013, the “Louvre Abu Dhabi” by French architect Jean Nouvel is the first universal museum in the capital city of the UAE. Spreading in 24,000 sq m area, the museum is located in the Saadiyat Island’s new Cultural District, the world’s largest single concentration of premier cultural institutions. Founded by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, during a ceremony, the Louvre will accommodate a complex of pavilions, plazas, alleyways and canals “evoking the image of a city floating on the sea.” Inspired by traditional Arabic architecture, a vast, shallow, perforated dome, about 180 meters in diameter, will hover over the complex, blending traditional art with modern architecture.
