The Future is in Dubai
Located in the South-West region of the United Arab Emirates, the glimmering diamond of Dubai is and will always be one of the most stunning cities in the world. Its landscape seems to be forever changing, with constructions popping out of nowhere and developing almost overnight. Renowned for many different reasons, from the ultra-modern buildings to the stunning architecture, Dubai is the stepping stone to the future.
Dragging the family off on a day out to the museum has always been a particularly arduous task for most. The moaning of the kids that their legs hurt, they’re hungry and that all they want to do is see the ‘cool, but slightly scary’ dinosaur exhibit—the groans when they realise that that exhibit has been changed weeks ago for something less exciting, like 70’s footwear. The Museum of the Future isn’t one of those museums. The kids wouldn’t moan or groan or complain, they’d be captivated. Opened in February this year in the heartbeat of Dubai’s business district, the museum has been set to transport all visitors to the year 2071, allowing them to experience the taste, touch and colour of a brand new tomorrow.
Created using the vision of Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum as a guide, the museum took almost seven years to create and cost the city around a whopping USD$136 million. The seven-storey, column-free superstructure is something to behold alright. In the shape of a human eye, the museum is designed to represent the vision of the future while the void in the middle represents the unknown that we all collectively seek to discover. Constructed using 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members, with stunning Arabic calligraphy embellished on the stainless-steel facade, the museum serves as a laboratory and a space to develop the newest technology in big data analysis, Artificial Intelligence, human DNA, space travel and Virtual and Augmented Reality.
On the inside, the museum features a sculptural spiral staircase, an air bridge that traverses across the building and several ‘bubble lifts’ to take visitors into the ‘unknown’. Across the bridges, and up the spiral staircases are several separate immersive environments that aim to give the visitors an empowering look into what the world would look like 50 years from now.
If what they’ve magically created is a glimpse into the next 50 years, we are excited to see what the future has in store. If the museum continues to expand and respond on the possibilities of humankind in its future exhibits, then we can be certain that it will contribute furthermore to the future we all deserve right about now.
Image Credit: Museum of the Future
