Photos: What UAE Zayed National Museum will look like

Abu Dhabi - It will serve as a tribute to the founding father's values and passion for education.

The Zayed National Museum remains to be the most high-profile project in Abu Dhabi's massive cultural plan, and it is set to open in a few years, officials have said.

Currently under construction at Saadiyat Cultural District on the Capital's Saadiyat Island, the museum shall tell the story of the UAE's Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, along with the history of the region and its cultural connections with the world.

Lt-Gen Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, recently visited the museum's site, where he was also briefed on Abu Dhabi's cultural achievements.

Representatives of the Department of Culture and Tourism-Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) also presented the details of its five-year strategy for the cultural sector.

Set to become a UAE icon

From its architecture to the collections it will house, the Zayed National Museum has been designed to offer visitors a unique experience that engages the mind, raises questions, and encourages dynamic and interactive dialogue - all while exploring Sheikh Zayed's vision.

It will serve as a tribute to the founding father's values and passion for education, the environment, history, heritage and culture, underpinned by his strong faith.

The museum's permanent galleries will display the best of national collections, alongside loans from leading world museums. A programme of special exhibitions will also make it a vibrant part of the national, regional, and international cultural scene.

A must-visit for everyone - Emiratis, expats and tourists - the Zayed National Museum will be inclusive and educational. In fact, it will also function as a centre for archaeological and heritage research.

ZAYED NATIONAL MUSEUM AS AN ARCHITECTURAL MARVEL

>Designed by Lord Norman Foster, winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize and one of the most prolific architects of his generation

THE WINGS

>Serve as its distinctive tower inspired by Sheikh Zayed's passion for falconry and this heritage practice in the Gulf

>Sculpted aerodynamically to act as solar thermal towers, a contemporary reference to the traditional climatically responsive architecture of the region

>Range from 83 to 123 metres in height

THE ATRIUM

>Provides a welcoming space for all

>Where the museum announces itself as a national institution, a cultural destination and a centre for learning

HEART OF THE MUSEUM

>Represented by two galleries on the ground floor

>The extraordinary life of Sheikh Zayed and the foundations of the UAE are narrated in the main gallery

>The other gallery shows how the nation's landscapes and rich natural resources were formed

HISTORIC JOURNEY

>On the first floor of the museum, four pod-shaped galleries take the visitor on a journey through the history of the country, from the arrival of the first people and emergence of oases to the vibrant contemporary culture of the present-day UAE

>A 400-metre landscaped narrative garden will explore key moments in the life of Sheikh Zayed, and connect the museum with the sea and other sites of the Cultural District

ismail@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi