DUBAI: A major performing arts center designed by the late architect Frank Gehry is to be built in the UAE, according to plans announced on Thursday.
Dar Al-Funoon Abu Dhabi will provide a home for ballet, opera and theater, among other performances, and draw talent from across the region and around the world, the emirate’s Department of Culture and Tourism said.
The center is set to open in 2030 on Saadiyat Island, already home to the Zayed National Museum, Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi and the upcoming Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Mohamed Khalifa Al-Mubarak, chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi, said the center is a “deliberate investment in the future of our cultural ecosystem.
Dar Al-Funoon, designed by the late architect Frank Gehry, is a performing arts center scheduled to open in 2030. (DCT Abu Dhabi)
“Through artistic residencies, international partnerships and world-class productions, it will expand opportunities for cultural exchange, inspire new generations of creatives and further strengthen Abu Dhabi’s position as a global centre for creativity, exchange and artistic excellence,” he said.
Dar Al-Funoon — Arabic for house of the arts — will include a 2,000-seat multipurpose performance hall, 3,500-seat open-air amphitheater, studio theater and jazz venue.
The building was designed by the Canadian American Gehry, one of the world’s leading architects, who died in December. He also designed the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
His drawings for the building show a vast billowing fabric-like exterior over the site.
The announcement of the project was attended by Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed Al-Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi.
