Guggenheim is last but not least

Saadiyat Island: The Guggenheim in Abu Dhabi is designed to be the largest Guggenheim museum in the world and the only one in the Middle East, but it will be the last of the flagship museums to be delivered.

How the the Saadiyat Island Cultural District will look with the Guggenheim Museum in Abu Dhabi (courtesy of TDIC via Bloomberg News)

Saadiyat Island:

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The Guggenheim in Abu Dhabi is designed to be the largest Guggenheim museum in the world and the only one in the Middle East.

It is expected to have about 13,000 square metres of gallery space. TDIC recently confirmed it had cancelled the tender process for the main construction contract for work on the Frank Gehry-designed building.

TDIC says it is still committed to opening the museum but will launch it only after the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Zayed National Museum have opened.

Early construction on the Guggenheim, including piling work, began in the fourth quarter of 2009 and the museum's structural seawall was completed in May last year. Planning of the museum and the collection of art for exhibition is continuing.

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