Even amid Dubai’s eye-catching constellation of architectural wonders, the Museum of the Future – which aptly looks like it has been beamed in from the future – is surely destined to be a star attraction.
The 77-metre-high (252ft) seven-storey metallic museum – which is shaped like a giant silver egg with a hole in the centre – opened today, with displays and attractions positioned around the entire windowless building and a striking white spiral staircase rising up through the floors.
One exhibit reveals what life could be like inside a huge space station in 2071, while another is a digital recreation of a ‘luscious’ tropical rainforest.
The Museum of the Future, pictured above, is officially opening its doors in Dubai
The seven-storey museum, which is shaped like a giant silver egg with a hole in the centre, is located in the city’s financial district
Visitors can explore the museum’s workshops, a playspace and ‘experiential displays’
Spread across five levels are ‘experiential displays’, with one – the cosmos-themed ‘OSS Hope’ on the uppermost floor – allowing visitors to ‘play out their own story’ in space.
The rainforest section on the next floor down, called ‘Vault of Life’, is a recreation of a real part of the Amazon rainforest in Leticia, Colombia. It depicts the rainforest’s ecosystem ‘with unparalleled realism’.
Next up is the ‘Al Waha’ display – which is billed as an opportunity for visitors to ‘explore themselves in a world that stimulates their senses’. Here, museum-goers can ’embark on a private journey in an environment centred on health and well-being, detached from technology, allowing them to meditate, reconnect with themselves and restore their natural balance’.
The new museum promises to ‘bring together futurists, thinkers, innovators and the public’
An entrance to the museum. The building was designed by architect Shaun Killa of Dubai-based Killa Design
The white spiral staircase that twirls through the windowless building
Moving down a floor, visitors will discover the ‘Tomorrow Today’ display. This ‘explores the contrasting ways in which technology can shape the future and the wide-ranging responses it can provide to the challenges that the planet and society are facing’.
Finally, on the lowest level, visitors will happen upon the ‘Future Heroes’ section – the playspace that’s designed for children under the age of 10. This space sets out to encourage ‘young minds to make new discoveries about themselves and the world around them’.
At the heart of the museum, there’s a multi-use hall that can accommodate up to 1,000 people and another with a 345-seat capacity dedicated to ‘interactive lectures and workshops’.
Elsewhere, visitors can find a permanent exhibition that is themed around ‘future innovations’.
The museum, located in Dubai’s finance centre, also offers advanced research courses on the ‘latest findings in human sciences’ in collaboration with universities and international research institutes.
What’s more, there are laboratories throughout the building that test out ideas in areas such as ‘health, education, smart cities, energy and transportation’.
The museum, created by architect Shaun Killa of Dubai-based Killa Design, was designed to become an ‘architectural and cultural icon’.
Above is the cosmos-themed ‘OSS Hope’ experiential display, where visitors are invited to ‘play out their own story’ in space
The ‘OSS Hope’, pictured, shows you what life could be like inside a huge space station in 2071
The ‘Vault of Life’ display, pictured, will be a recreation of a real part of the Amazon rainforest in Leticia, Colombia
The ‘Al Waha’ display, pictured, is billed as ‘an opportunity for visitors to explore themselves in a world that stimulates their senses’
The museum’s ‘Future Heroes’ section, which sets out to encourage ‘young minds to make new discoveries about themselves and the world around them’
It took 18 months for the 17,600-square-metre (189,444-sq-ft) facade, which is made of 1,024 pieces of stainless steel, to be constructed.
This facade is embellished with Arabic calligraphy, listing out three quotes written by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE.
The first reads: ‘We may not live for hundreds of years, but the products of our creativity can leave a legacy long after we are gone.’
‘The future belongs to those who can imagine it, design it, and execute it. It isn’t something you await, but rather create,’ reads the second, while the third says: ‘Innovation is not an intellectual luxury. It is the secret behind the evolution and rejuvenation of nations and peoples.’
These quotes similarly appear on the white walls of the museum interior.
Visitors can find a permanent exhibition in the museum that is themed around ‘future innovations’
The 77-metre-high structure was designed to become an ‘architectural and cultural icon’
It took 18 months for the facade, which is made of 1024 pieces of stainless steel, to be constructed
The facade is embellished with Arabic calligraphy, listing out three quotes that were written by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE
One of the quotes on the facade reads: ‘We may not live for hundreds of years, but the products of our creativity can leave a legacy long after we are gone’
A floorplan illustrating how visitors can explore every part of the museum’s structure
Ahead of the opening, Mohammed Al Gergawi, UAE Minister for Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of the Dubai Future Foundation, said: ‘The Museum of the Future is a “living museum”, constantly adapting and metamorphosing as its very environment drives continual and iterative change to its exhibits and attractions.
‘The Museum brings together futurists, thinkers, innovators and the public in a testbed of ideas that define the world of the future and shape the way we interact with our world to come.’
And Khalfan Belhoul, CEO of the Dubai Future Foundation, added: ‘With its unique focus on the future, the Museum brings together futurists, thinkers, innovators and the public in a testbed of ideas that define the world of the future and shape the way we interact with our world to come.’
Entry to the museum will cost 145AED (£29). For more information, visit www.museumofthefuture.ae.
A statement says that the museum will be ‘constantly adapting and metamorphosing as its very environment drives continual and iterative change to its exhibits and attractions’
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