Abu Dhabi-Saadiyat Guggenheim Stalls

(Photo via L.A Times)

The Abu Dhabi company building a branch of the Guggenheim museum in the Emirati capital said Sunday it has temporarily dropped plans to award a major construction contract, raising questions about the future of the high profile project.

TDIC (The state-run Tourism Development and Investment Co.) is one of several companies set up by Abu Dhabi to diversify the economy and drive development in the emirate, which borders Dubai to the south. 

The money-losing company relies heavily on direct cash infusions from the oil-rich Abu Dhabi government, but it also has turned to banks to fund some of its operations.

TDIC executives traveled to Europe and Asia over the summer to meet with potential investors about the possibility of issuing new bonds, but then put off those fundraising plans.

The Guggenheim project has been a flashpoint for controversy.

In March, more than 130 international artists and writers promised to boycott the museum unless authorities do more to protect workers' rights at the site. That followed an earlier report by Human Rights Watch that outlined alleged abuses against migrant workers on the project.

“Approaching the design of the museum for Abu Dhabi made it possible to consider options for design of a building that would not be possible in the United State or in Europe. It was clear from the beginning that this had to be a new invention. The landscape, the opportunity, the requirement, to build something that people all over the world would come to and the possible resource to accomplish it opened tracks that were not likely to be considered anywhere else. The site itself, virtually on the water or close to the water on all sides, in a desert landscape with the beautiful sea and the light quality of the place suggested some of the direction.”
—Frank Gehry

Currently under development, the new 450,000-square-foot museum is situated on a peninsula at the northwestern tip of Saadiyat Island adjacent to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.  

The Gehry concept for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi features permanent-collection and special-exhibitions galleries; a center for art and technology; a center for contemporary Arab, Islamic, and Middle Eastern culture; an education facility; a research center; and a state-of-the-art conservation laboratory. This museum will be the Guggenheim Foundation’s largest facility.

Inspired by expansive industrial studio spaces, the museum design reflects the large scale at which many contemporary artists work, and presents new gallery layouts unlike conventional museum spaces. Clusters of galleries in varying heights, shapes, and character, allow for curatorial flexibility in organizing exhibitions at dimensions that have not previously existed. Evolving from several main cues, clusters of galleries connected by catwalks center around a covered courtyard. Additional vertical clusters of galleries pile on top of the central circulation creating a combination of vertical and horizontal spaces for exhibition organization. The design also incorporates sustainable elements appropriate for the region including natural cooling and ventilation of covered courtyards derived from the concept of traditional wind towers found throughout the Middle East.

The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is the largest museum in a series of cultural institutions planned as part of the Saadiyat Island Cultural District, which will serve the world as a destination for the advancement of knowledge and the understanding of culture through the arts.