Late Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry‘s last major building, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, has been pictured nearing completion on Saadiyat Island, UAE.
Located in the island’s cultural district, the long-awaited museum will encompass 42,000 square metres and become the largest of the four Guggenheim outposts, which include Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
It is the last major project designed by Gehry, one of the world’s most famous architects, who died on Friday at the age of 96.
The late Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is nearing completion
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi was previously scheduled for completion in 2025, though its opening date is yet to be disclosed and construction works remain ongoing at the site.
When the 2025 completion date was announced, Gehry described the project as “truly thrilling”.
“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,” he said at the time.
It is located on Saadiyat Island alongside Jean Nouvel’s Louvre Abu Dhabi
Plans for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi were first revealed in 2006 and construction began on the northwestern tip of Saadiyat Island in 2011. Works were suspended for several years, before restarting in 2019.
The photos of the building reveal its vast clashing forms, which will contain galleries of varying heights and styles.
Frank Gehry’s 15 most significant buildings
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will be operated by the Guggenheim Foundation but owned by Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development & Investment Company, which commissioned the project.
Alongside its galleries will be a centre for art and technology, a children’s education facility, archives, a library and a conservation laboratory.
The building’s clashing forms can be seen in the photos
Its completion will follow the opening of other landmark cultural institutions on the island, including Jean Nouvel’s Louvre Abu Dhabi in 2017 and Zayed National Museum by Foster + Partners earlier this month.
Mecanoo also recently completed the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, which has a form resembling rock formations.
The museum is Gehry’s last major building
Gehry, the founder of the architecture studio Gehry Partners, designed numerous landmark cultural buildings over his career, which spanned nearly eight decades.
Among the most prominent are the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Luna Arles and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, which architect Philip Johnson described as the “greatest building of our time”.
Following the news of his death on Friday, we rounded up 15 of his most influential buildings.
The photography is by Lizzie Crook.