Halted talent meets a monumental finale: Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Abu Dhabi edges toward completion on Saadiyat Island, with fresh imagery capturing the project in its near-final form.
The late Canadian-American architect Gehry’s career is bookended by the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, a flagship museum destined to anchor the island’s cultural district. When finished, the 42,000-square-meter complex will be the largest Guggenheim outpost, surpassing even Bilbao’s celebrated site. This will mark Gehry’s final major commission before his passing at age 96.
Although 2025 had been slated as the completion target, an official opening date remains undisclosed as construction continues on the site.
Gehry previously called the project “truly thrilling” when the 2025 timeline was announced, expressing hope that the building would be welcomed by the UAE and endure as a lasting national landmark.
Plans for Guggenheim Abu Dhabi first surfaced in 2006, with construction kicking off in 2011 on the northwestern tip of Saadiyat Island. After a multi-year hiatus, work resumed in 2019.
The released photographs emphasize the museum’s bold, intersecting volumes, which will house galleries of varied heights and styles. In addition to exhibition spaces, the complex will include a center for art and technology, a children’s education facility, archives, a library, and a conservation laboratory. The Guggenheim Foundation will operate the institution, while the Abu Dhabi Tourism Development & Investment Company owns it, having commissioned the project.
Upon completion, the museum will join other landmark institutions on the island, such as Jean Nouvel’s Louvre Abu Dhabi (opened in 2017) and the Zayed National Museum by Foster + Partners, which opened earlier in the month. More recently, Mecanoo’s Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi has also added to the island’s cultural landscape with a striking rock-like form.
Gehry, founder of Gehry Partners, left an enduring imprint on the architecture world with a portfolio of cultural giants spanning nearly eight decades. Among the most renowned are the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Luma Arles, and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao—works some critics have hailed as the pinnacle of contemporary architecture.
In the wake of Gehry’s death, coverage highlighted his most influential buildings, reflecting on a career that reshaped public-facing cultural spaces.
Photographs accompanying this piece were captured by Lizzie Crook.
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