Cultural Capital

The new Louvre is the ultimate trophy for Abu Dhabi, but it’s only the beginning for a city with the grandest designs for its future, writes

- Larissa Dubecki

While Dubai may have spent much of the past two decades building tall towers and hosting parties, Abu Dhabi, its more reserved rival city, has been pursuing soft power of another kind in an effort to shore up an oil-free future. A long-term campaign by the Abu Dhabi government to persuade marquee cultural institutions to open outposts in the city – part of its blueprint to create an essential stopover between hemispheres – came to fruition spectacularly last year when the Louvre Abu Dhabi opened in a cluster of 55 pavilions designed by French architect Jean Nouvel. It joins the distinctive gold-domed UAE Pavilion events space and Manarat Al Saadiyat arts and cultural centre on Saadiyat Island, a 27-square-kilometre island adjacent to the main island of Abu Dhabi.

The Louvre is among the first of a number of cultural institutions designed by high-profile architects planned for Saadiyat; but agreements have been signed for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, designed by Frank Gehry, a maritime museum by Tadao Ando, a performing arts centre by the late Zaha Hadid and the Zayed National Museum by Norman Foster.

Add a vibrant food scene, big-ticket sporting events such as the Formula One Grand Prix, the Ferrari World theme park and OTT malls seemingly designed to test the limits of retail endurance, and this city of 1.8 million people gives Dubai a run for its oil money.

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Al Aqssa