The much anticipated Louvre Abu Dhabi has just completed another leg of the project. French Pulitzer Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel designed the dome-shaped roof to be built out of 4,481 stars, and it is finally finished.
According to Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC), the final star of the complex design was added in the presence of Nouvel himself. The museum’s dome spans 180-metres and will project light patterns in the shape of palm trees onto the exhibition space below. It was designed to incorporate the region’s traditions and modern architecture.
Eight layers of cladding comprised of 7,850 star-shaped pieces of aluminum and stainless steel make up the outer canopy part of this unique roof. The largest piece measures 13 metres in diameter and weighs 1.3 tonnes.
Now that this extremely intricate part of the Louvre Abu Dhabi is completed, TDIC claims that major work will be done in the next few months. Plans to lay the museums stone flooring, display cases for galleries and to complete the administration building are all up next.
The construction of the museum has seen many delays due to the violation of labor laws for construction workers, causing major controversy for the museum a few years ago. If no further delays occur, the museum will be done by the end of 2016.
When it is completed, the Louvre Abu Dhabi will have 9,200 square metres of art galleries on the prestigious Saadiyat Island.
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