Holograms, robotics and 3D printing will all be a part of Dubai’s latest ‘architectural wonder’, the US $136 million Museum of the Future designed by architect Shaun Killa of Killa Design.
Located in the heart of downtown Dubai, the ovular, metallic structure will sit just minutes away from the Burj Khalifa skyscraper, and house innovation and research labs, and permanent exhibitions for prototyped ideas and future inventions.
“The Museum of the Future will be an incubator for ideas and real designs, a driver for innovation and a global destination for inventors and entrepreneurs,” said Dubai ruler and UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum at the launch, reports Gulf News.
“The world is entering a new era of accelerated knowledge and great technological revolutions. We aim to lead in that area, not to follow and lag behind. The Museum of the Future is the first step of many to come, marking the beginning of great achievements.”
Working under the motto, ‘see the future, create the future’, the museum will be an “integrated environment empowering creative minds to test, fund and market ideas for futuristic prototypes & services”. This means new inventions will not only be showcased, but also developed in the special innovation labs.
The building’s curved steel-clad façade will feature lines of poetry written by Sheikh Mohammed himself, with light to enter the building through the perforated text.
A massive hologram billboard will fill the structure’s oval shaped hollow, while some elements of the building will be 3D printed and incorporate bespoke technology.
The museum is the first of its kind, and will change its exhibits every six months to keep pace with changing technology. According to Emirati Minister of Cabinet Affairs Mohammed al-Gergawi, the goal is “to always be 10 years ahead of today”.
Construction is set to start this week, with the museum to open in 2017.
