Zayed National Museum

Zayed National Museum

مَتْحَف زَايِد ٱلْوَطَنِي (in Arabic)
Location	Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Coordinates	24°32′4.43″N 54°25′7.69″E / 24.5345639°N 54.4188028°E / 24.5345639; 54.4188028
Type	National museum
Director	Dr. Peter Magee
Architect	Foster + Partners
Website	Zayed National Museum

Zayed National Museum (Arabic: مَتْحَف زَايِد ٱلْوَطَنِي, romanized: Matḥaf Zāyid Al-Waṭanī) is a planned museum, to be located in Abu Dhabi, the UAE. It is designed as a memorial to the late Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding father and first president of the UAE.^[1] The museum is planned to be the centrepiece of the Saadiyat Island Cultural District,^[2] and will showcase the history, culture, and economic transformation of the Emirates.^[3]

In 2021, it was announced that the construction, which was interrupted after Arabtec ceased operations, would be taken over by the companies Trojan Construction Group and SixConstruct.^[4] The museum is currently under construction and as of November 2021, its opening date is scheduled for 2025.^[5]

The museum has been designed by Foster + Partners with five solar thermal towers that will act as chimneys to draw cool air through the building.^[1] The towers are shaped like falcon wings to commemorate Zayed's love of falconry.^[3]

In 2009, the Zayed National Museum signed a ten-year contract with the British Museum.^[6] The British Museum would assist with curation and loan about 500 of its treasures to the Zayed National Museum. According to The New York Times, the British Museum thinks that it is unlikely that any items will be loaned under the current contract, which ends in 2019. In June 2018, a new partnership was announced between the British Museum and Zayed National Museum.^[7] In July 2019, the archaeologist Dr. Peter Magee was appointed Director.^[8]

Its opening has been delayed many times. Scheduled to be complete in 2012,^[9] the opening was delayed to 2013,^[8] and later 2021.^[9]

As of November 2021, the museum is still under construction, with anticipated opening in 2025, coinciding with the opening of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.^[5]

The museum’s design suggests that it keeps pace with the latest developments and modernity in architecture. It was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Norman Foster. The museum’s land area is 66,000 square metres,^[10] and consists of five towers that resemble the shape and design of a falcon’s wings, inspired by their place in the cultural heritage of the United Arab Emirates. The height of these wings ranges between 83 and 123 metres. The museum has a large main lobby to welcome visitors, and two galleries on the ground floor that represent the heart of the museum. On the first floor, there are four galleries in the form of a hanging hill, each of which forms the base of one of the wings, in addition to an external hill 30 metres high, inspired by the terrain of the Emirates. Visitors can climb it and walk between the bases of the wings and get a direct view of the cultural area on Saadiyat Island.^[11]

• Official website