Dubai has inaugurated an ingenious building so uniquely shaped that it will take your breath away, the Museum of the Future.
There is something between wonderful and disturbing in the future. A kind of halo or mystery surrounds our mind when we speculate about it, undertaking thoughts that would otherwise seem unheard of to us… Thinking of visiting unknown spaces? Want to find planets that could be inhabited or inhabit space? What tools will we use that cannot even be glimpsed today?
Compiling all these concerns common to humanity and, if possible, embarking on the path towards them, well deserves a unique building. A building that reflects all the dynamics that we are capable of generating. In Dubai they got to work with this idea and, of course, they have succeeded, as the Museum of the Future opened its spectacular doors on February 2.
Así es el Museo del Futuro de Dubái
Its name is the Museum of the Future and it came in handy for the designers at Killa Design, responsible for the work, to delve into the idea of new architectural forms. Of course, the building couldn’t be too far from the Burj Khalifa, the tallest skyscraper in the world. Specifically, it is six minutes away by car, and under the watchful eye of the Emirate Towers. However, its iconic silhouette threatens to unseat these colossi.
And it is that nobody is unperturbed by its figure, a three-dimensional oval whose interior has been perforated in an eccentric way, generating a considerable interior space with respect to the volume that the building could occupy and, therefore, being able to see its through. In addition, the outer rounded surfaces are covered in Arabic script, turning the construction into a powerful message.
The building is a door to the future
According to the ruler of Dubai, this is «the most beautiful building in the world» and although we are not going to agree with him, we are not going to take it away either. Of course, it is a matter of taste, but it is in the top 10 for sure. To enhance the figure, the building has been surrounded by extensions of land by the Cracknell landscape studio, responsible for the landscaping of the Oasiz Madrid Shopping Center.
Another exterior feature that makes it interesting is that it is located in front of the Dubai Skytrain line, which gives it greater visibility. The building is seven stories high, on a three-story podium, housing all kinds of exhibitions dedicated to the future and workshops where cutting-edge technology can be tested and developed. That is, this building is not just a window to the future, it is almost a door.
It is 77 meters high divided into 7 floors
The museum also has a multipurpose auditorium that can accommodate 1,000 people, a conference room with 345 seats and a multitude of laboratories. Of course, space exploration invades a large part of the exhibition space, but there are also other marvels, such as a digital recreation of the Amazon jungle, or prototypes of some products that may be widely used in the future.
The building reaches 77 meters in height without a single pillar inside, generating the spaces thanks to an intricate steel structure that was designed by the engineering studio of Buro Happold, who tells us on his website that they had to develop an algorithm specific for its construction based on the torus shape of the property.
A sustainable building with an oval shape
In the end, it was possible to implement a complex frame capable of supporting the 1,024 stainless steel and fiberglass-reinforced polymer panels that we see outside, and which proudly display Arabic calligraphy. Although no less impressive is the interior of the building, with curved walls that continue the dynamics of the exterior with written symbols and leaving space for the LED luminaires.
A beautiful white spiral staircase accompanies us on the ascent between floors, with its glass railing and stainless steel handrail. Of course, a building that represents the future could not be made without paying special attention to the environment. The Museum of the Future was designed to be almost zero-energy, with passive solar architecture, low-energy engineering, water reuse and, obviously, integrated renewable energy.
Outside you can read some phrases in Arabic talking about the future
But wait, there are still some more details. The inner void of the oval represents the unwritten future. Its envelope has 17,000 square meters of stainless steel cladding, the building achieved LEED Platinum certification, it will bring together researchers and inventors from all over the world and, best of all, it has a restaurant and cafeteria.
Finally, we will reveal the meaning of the three sentences that are read on the outside: «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’s not something you expect, but something you create.» “Innovation is not an intellectual luxury. It is the secret of the evolution and rejuvenation of nations and peoples».
*Photos courtesy of Dubai Future Foundation.