Dubai has opened its newest architectural marvel – the Museum of the Future, positioning the UAE as the seat of global innovation.\
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, inaugurated this latest landmark during the global palindrome date of February 22, 2022 (22-02-2022), which is now the Middle East’s largest platform where the world’s best and brightest in the fields of science, technology, research, and innovation can collaborate and focus on future-proof solutions.
“The Museum of the Future is a message of hope… a global scientific platform… and an integrated institutional framework to shape a better future for all of us. It embodies the active human imagination and the Emirati will that continues to excel in the world. The Museum will be a forum for great minds, scientists, thinkers and experts from around the world,” said the Vice President.
Located in the Emirates Towers area near Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, the Museum brings into fruition the seven-year project first envisioned in 2015, marked as the UAE’s ‘Year of Innovation’. A year later, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid launched the Dubai Future Foundation with an endowment fund of AED 1 billion that would shape and make an impact across the UAE’s strategic sectors.
The Museum spans seven floors, each with a unique experience to offer the public that will not only showcase futuristic concepts behind a display case – it will also be a venue for the next generation of thinkers and doers, innovators, to prototype and transform their futureproof solutions to life.
GLOBAL INCUBATOR
His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Dubai Future Foundation, underscored that the vision for the Museum was to become a venue for the world to anticipate potential challenges and address these with tangible, workable creations.
“The Museum of the Future will be an intellectual laboratory for cities of the future and governments of the future… it will play a key role in strengthening Dubai’s future position. The Museum will provide a clear roadmap for Dubai’s vital sectors,” said the Dubai Crown Prince.
The Museum will introduce new science and technology programs to boost the UAE’s knowledge base and promote scientific progress. It intends to establish a global network of relationships with key scientific and research institutes and centres, to facilitate and encourage in-depth debates about future trends impacting various sectors such as the economy, science, technology, and how all of these impact the quality of human life as a whole.
In addition, this new architectural marvel will also serve as the headquarters for His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s ‘Great Arab Minds’ initiative – the UAE’s search for 1,000 outstanding Arab minds, reinforcing the country’s position as a beacon of knowledge of the Middle Eastern region.
ARCHITECTURAL BENCHMARK
Listed as part of National Geographic’s ’14 Most Beautiful Museums of The World’, UAE residents have long marveled at the grandeur of the façade and the building itself with its unique curved shape with no sharp edges.
The Museum is accessible by two bridges, the first of which is 69 meters long and links it to the Jumeirah Emirates Towers buildings, and the second of which is 212 meters long and connects it to the Emirates Towers Metro station.
Behind this concept is the “parametric design” model – a state-of-the-art three-dimensional technology that helped to build the Museum of the Future to the magnificent structure that it is today. The process involved entering data and a specific set of parameters to design one of the world’s most complex architectural structures to date.
It is likewise a model for sustainability, as it is powered with 4,000 megawatts of solar energy produced by a station connected to the building, in collaboration with the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority. It is also the first of its kind in the Middle East to obtain a Platinum Certification for Leadership in Environmental Energy and Design, the highest rating for green buildings in the world.
His Excellency Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi, Chairman of the Museum of the Future, highlighted the resemblance between the philosophy of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid and the Museum of the Future.
“In its continuously evolving and renewed concept, the Museum of the Future reflects the resilient and agile vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid in responding to changes of the future,” said Gergawi.
EXPERIENTIAL JOURNEY
Within its halls, visitors will experience how cutting-edge virtual and augmented reality, data analysis, artificial intelligence, and human-machine interface technology all work together in a futuristic concept.
The Museum’s exhibits orchestrate a world beyond human knowledge, providing visitors with innovative experiences unfolding across five different exhibitions that explore the future of space travel and living, climate change and ecology, health, wellness, and spirituality, answering many questions related to the future of humans, cities, societies, life on planet Earth, and outer space.
Visitors will be immersed in an extremely modern world as they are reintroduced to Earth – one that has embraced the future of bioengineering technology that involves advancements in the fields of healthcare and sustainability.
This highlights the UAE’s position as one of the first countries to announce its commitment to achieving climate neutrality by 2050, as well as a tribute to the country’s efforts in planning to host the 28th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 28) in Abu Dhabi in 2023.
The Museum of the Future will also feature unique inventions from the near future through partnerships with industry-leading firms and organizations to highlight emerging technologies and trends generated for the welfare of humanity.
It will provide children with a dedicated experience that encourages their youngest minds to explore and learn several future-proofing skills through an open-world experience, allowing them to innovate and create the future they want to be a pivotal part of.
