The Museum of the Future in Dubai has officially opened to the public.
The cutting-edge museum in Dubai's Financial District is the creation of the Dubai Future Foundation and the architecture firm Killa Design, led by Shaun Killa. The unusual seven-story skyscraper reaches 77m tall without the use of a single supporting column and has been dubbed "the most beautiful building in the world" by Dubai ruler and UAE vice president Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
The gleaming toroidal-shaped structure is comprised of 1,024 stainless steel panels produced using a sophisticated robot-assisted technique, with lines of Arabic calligraphy citing His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum that translate to:
"While we may not live for hundreds of years, the results of our creativity can leave a legacy long after we are gone." The future belongs to those who can dream, design, and carry it out. It is not something you wait for, but rather something you make. Innovation is not a mental luxury. It is the key to the evolution and revitalization of nations and peoples.
The structure is powered by its own specialized solar park, and within it is an all-purpose hall surrounded by lecture rooms, innovation labs, permanent exhibition spaces, and dedicated children's areas. Its circular shape is thought to represent humanity, the green mound on which it stands depicts Earth, and the hole in the center represents an unknown future.
Rather than meditating on the past, as most museums do, the space intends to take visitors on a journey through alternative futures in order to "bring hope and knowledge back to the present.
"The Museum of the Future is a 'living museum,' continually changing and metamorphosing as its own environment drives continuous and iterative change to its displays and attractions," stated Mohammed Al Gergawi, head of the Dubai Future Foundation. "The museum brings together futurists, philosophers, inventors, and the general public in a testbed of ideas that define the world of the future and impact how we interact with our future world."
Take a look at the photographs above, as well as the opening ceremony, which is shown below. More information is available on the Museum of the Future's website.
