Dubai has a new landmark, the new Museum of the Future (MOTF), which opened last month, was designed by award-winning architect Shaun Killa of Killa Design for the Dubai Future Foundation as a gateway to a future world.

Building on the visionary culture that has transformed the UAE into one of the world’s most advanced nations in less than 50 years, the museum showcases the spirit of courage, optimism and innovation that propels Dubai forward.

Standing 77m tall and spanning an area of over 30,000sqm, the torus-shaped pillarless building features a striking stainless steel facade consisting of 1,024 panels and covering a total surface area of 17,600 square metres. Arabic calligraphy based on the Ruler of Dubai, HH Sheikh Mohammed’s inspirational quotes is intricately 3D mapped onto the curved skin.

According to Dubai Future Foundation, the engraved writing on the steel facade is designed using advanced glass manufactured with new technologies specifically to improve the quality of interior lighting and exterior thermal insulation.

Designed to provide the largest platform in the region to study, envision and design the future, the seven-storey Museum of the Future will be an incubator for global talents, scientists, thinkers and researchers to bring their bold ideas and visions of the future to life.

The Museum of the Future will present a clear roadmap for Dubai and the UAE’s future, through which all vital sectors stand to benefit from future economic, developmental, scientific and humanitarian opportunities, the Foundation said.

Symbolically, the building represents humanity, the green mound from which it rises represents the earth, and the void represents the unknown future.

In addition to a multipurpose hall that accommodates more than 1,000 people, and a special hall for interactive lectures and workshops that can accommodate more than 345 people, the museum also includes innovation laboratories for health, education, smart cities, energy and transportation, a permanent museum of future innovations, and laboratories to generate and test new ideas, especially in developmental areas related to critical social challenges.

The Museum of the Future takes its visitors on an experiential journey that transports them to the year 2071, which coincides with the centenary of the founding of the UAE, the Foundation added. The museum employs the latest technologies in virtual and augmented reality, big data analysis, artificial intelligence and human machine interaction to answer many questions related to the future of humanity, cities, societies and life on Earth, all the way to outer space.

Describing his design journey, architect Shaun Killa said, “The primary inspiration of the Museum of the Future was to create a form that represents the client’s vision of the future, where the physical building with its exhibition floors represents our understanding of the ‘future’ as we know it today and for the next 5 to 10 years. In contrast the ‘void’ represents what we do not yet know, and that the people who seek the unknown will continue to innovate and discover to help guide humanity towards a better future, whereby creating the continuum of replenishing the MOTF.”

“The museum is a low carbon civic building achieved through the use of many design innovations, which include parametric design, passive solar architecture, low-energy and low-water engineering solutions, recovery strategies for both energy and water, and building integrated renewables,” Killa added.

Image source: Museum of the Future/ Dubai Future Foundation

Architecture News & Editorial Desk

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