Guggenheim lands in Abu Dhabi: preparations begin for the "Guggenheim of the Sands"

Twelve years after the official announcement, preparations are underway for the construction of the so-called "Guggenheim of the Sands," or the new museum to be erected in Abu Dhabi at the behest of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, to which we owe the Peggy Guggenheim in Venice, the Guggenheim in Bilbao, and the museum on Fifth Avenue designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Announcing this is the director of the Guggenheim in New York, Richard Armstrong, who said in an interview by Euronews, “We are on schedule and within budget. We will start construction soon.”

Armstrong did not specify an opening date for the museum, but it is estimated that it could be around 2022. “It’s a very large construction,” Armstrong explained. “There are complex parts, and it may take some time to put it all together, given the size of the undertaking.” The facility was originally scheduled to open in 2012, then postponed to 2017.

Much like the Guggenheim in Bilbao, the one in Abu Dhabi is also a Frank Gehry design, characterized, therefore, by enveloping lines and an innovative vision that places a new collection of contemporary art in the context of a desert landscape.

The “Guggenheim of the Sands” will be located on the northwestern tip ofSaadyat Island, surrounded for three parts by Gulf water, and will be the largest Guggenheim in terms of exhibition space. “It will really consume our energy for the next 10 years,” Armstrong added. Inside, the museum will house contemporary art from around the world, including works by young artists. The director concluded by explaining why Abu Dhabi was chosen to open a new museum: “It is a place of growing curiosity. There are several universities and neighborhoods that can become creative centers, and I see it as a place that has a bright future.”

Pictured: the design of the “Guggenheim of the Sands”

Guggenheim lands in Abu Dhabi: preparations begin for the "Guggenheim of the Sands"

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