Dubai has opened the “Museum of the Future” (MOTF) on the historically significant palindrome date, February 22, 2022 — and it’s being billed as the most high-tech and beauteous attraction in the country, if not the entire planet.
Located next to the Emirates Towers on Sheikh Zayed Road, the museum signifies a peek into the world 50 years from now, exhibiting and predicting how next-generation solutions — from artificial intelligence to augmented reality and identifying potential threats — can enhance and revolutionize humanity for the better.
“It is an architectural and engineering marvel, confidently straddling the past and the future and applying advanced technology to traditional art forms,” United Arab Emirates officials said during the opening.
Made out of a fiberglass and stainless steel frame, the development was designed by architecture firm Killa Design, and has already been recognized by National Geographic as one of the world’s 14 most beautiful museums.
But His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai went a step further calling it “the most beautiful building on earth” in a tweet.
Spanning a colossal 323,000 square feet and comprising seven stories, the 252-square-foot-high MOTF has a number of floors dedicated to different experiences.
Three floors include immersive exhibitions — focusing on outer space resource development, ecosystems and bioengineering, along with health and wellbeing.
Another floor will showcase near-future technologies that aim to revolutionize the world by addressing challenges in areas that include health, water, food, transportation and energy.
The last floor is all about the little ones — dedicated to children to explore and solve challenges in their own way to become “our future heroes,” the site states.
The museum is plastered in quotes from Al Maktoum.
Of the quotes enveloping the façade, one translates to: “We may not live for hundreds of years, but the products of our creativity can leave a legacy long after we are gone. The future belongs to those who can imagine it, design it and execute it. It isn’t something you await, but rather create.”
Mohammad Al Gergawi, managing director of the Dubai Future Foundation said of the museum’s first announcement, “The engineering icon positions Dubai as a testbed for emerging technologies and an exploration base for talents, inventors and creative professionals from all over the world to unravel the greatest challenges that will shape the future of humanity.
“The Museum of the Future is a ‘living museum,’ constantly adapting and metamorphosing as its very environment drives continual and iterative change to its exhibits and attractions,” Gergawi added.
