Frank Gehry has met with Emirati leader Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed in the UAE as the planned Guggenheim Abu Dhabi has announced yet another amended opening date for the second time in as many weeks, according to a press release.
The museum will now open in 2025, a year earlier than was previously announced by director Richard Armstrong at a press conference last week in Basel, Switzerland.
“It is truly thrilling to see this project enter into this new phase,” Gehry said in a statement. “I am immensely proud to work closely with our partners, DCT Abu Dhabi and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, to create a home for their ground-breaking cultural program. I hope that this building is embraced by the people of the UAE and that this work will endure as a landmark for the country for many years to come.”
“As we move forward with our plans, it is crucial to recognize the impact of this museum in realizing our vision for the emirate’s culture and creative industries. Investing in these industries is pivotal to the economic development of our emirate, and to our contribution to the global art world,” DCT Chairman Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak added.
The highly-anticipated project was originally scheduled to open in 2012 but fell off track thanks to a series of economic setbacks that have been underscored by an ongoing pushback against labor standards being used to complete the multibillion-dollar Saadiyat Island complex.
An official groundbreaking date is still forthcoming. Archinect will have more on the project once construction commences.
5 Comments
fingers crossed frank, fingers crossed
Garbage in, garbage out. Or in this case vice versa as the project was inspired by the pile of debris left from an inverted office trash receptacle.
For some reason, this came to mind.
Lucas even predicted social distancing, what a visionary!
It will be just as Gehry.
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