The 600 or so masterpieces in this "museum of civilisation", from the Neolithic to contemporary art, are housed in the fascinating floating mystical treasure chest designed by Jean Nouvel on Saadiyat Island. A double dome of 180 meters in diameter, which thanks to the perforated material, generates shadows that alternate with shafts of sunlight.
Design Museum
Holon, Israel (2010)
The star designer in this case is the Israeli master Ron Arad, known for having designed the Bookworm bookcase for Kartell. The Design Museum is a construction with exquisitely fluid forms, although it is mainly made of reinforced concrete and covers an area of 3700 square meters, projecting a surface distinctively highlighted by six large strips of Cor-Ten steel. In addition to the exhibition spaces, the building houses a library, an archive, an auditorium, a film library, workspaces, a design laboratory.
Dongdaemun Design Plaza
Seoul (South Korea)
With a total area of 85,000 square meters, the DDP is spread over eight floors, four of which are underground. The complex, which includes exhibition galleries, conference rooms, a design museum, a library, an education center and a "design market" is open 24 hours a day. It was created by design firm Zaha Hadid's and involved an entire block of the district of the same name in Seoul. It is covered with over 40 thousand panels in micro-perforated aluminum sheet of different sizes and curvatures, referencing decorative motifs of the Korean tradition.
National Museum
Doha, Qatar (2019)
Opened to the public in March 2019, the new museum replaces the original Qatar National Museum that was founded in 1975 to narrate the country's history and culture. Like the Louvre in Abu Dhabi, the National Museum of Doha is also designed by Jean Nouvel and, at first glance, you can grasp the source of inspiration: the desert rose.
To make and assemble its distinctive large curved discs, several technical challenges had to be overcome. The hue of the fiberglass reinforced concrete cladding changes with the light, from a dull white to beige, to a soft pink, blending with the color of the omnipresent desert sand, which becomes ornamental here.