Architecture & Contemporary Technology

Dr. Tawfeeq Abo Ghazza

Fares Zahi Sweidan – 8180080

Moath Al-Dalaien – 8180055
THE “RAIN OF LIGHT”
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi
Located in the proposed
new Cultural District of
Saadiyat Island, off the
coast of Abu Dhabi, the
new Louvre has inspiring,
high-quality exhibition
spaces for stunning works
of art from around the
world, many on loan from
the Louvre in Paris.
CLIENT: The Tourist Development and Investment
Company of Abu Dhabi (TDIC)
ARCHITECT: Ateliers Jean Nouvel (AJN)
DURATION: 2007 - 2016
AREA: 24,000 square metres (260,000 sq ft).
Architect: Jean Nouvel
Building function: Museum
Geographic scope: United Arab Emirates
Jean NOUVEL was born in
Fumel, France in 1945.
His works have gained world-
wide recognition through
numerous prestigious French
and International prizes and
rewards.
Jean Nouvel’s work does not
result from considerations of
style or ideology, but from a
quest to create a Unique
Concept for a Singular
Combination of People, Place
and Time.
THE “RAIN OF LIGHT”
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi
THE “RAIN OF LIGHT”
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi

Jean Nouvel sought inspiration for the

Concept of Louvre Abu Dhabi in
traditional Arabic architectural culture.
Taking a contextual approach to the site,
Nouvel designed Louvre Abu Dhabi as a
‘Museum City’ in the sea.

Its contrasting series of white buildings

take Inspiration from the medina
and low-lying Arab settlements.

In total, 55 individual buildings, including

23 galleries, make up this museum city.
The façades of the buildings are made
up of 3,900 panels of ultra-high
performance fiber concrete (UHPC).
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi
Site Plan
THE “RAIN OF LIGHT”
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi

The Concept Design phase for the

Louvre Abu Dhabi project took place
between 2006 and 2007.
The Design Development phases followed
in 2007 to 2012 and the construction of the
museum from 2013 to 2017.
Prior to the completion of the museum,
the Louvre Abu Dhabi has already been the
recipient of three international awards:
winner of the ‘Project of the Future’
category of the Identity Design Award in
2015; the European Steel Design Award in
2017, received with Waagner Biro, the
Louvre Abu Dhabi dome specialist, and
winner of the ‘Most Prominent UAE Project’
category of the Identity Design Award in
2017.
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi
Function
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi
Floor Finish
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi
Furniture Layout
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi
Section 01
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi
Section 02
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi
Section 03
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi
Section 03
THE “RAIN OF LIGHT”
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi
THE “RAIN OF LIGHT”
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi

All climates like exceptions.

Warmer when it is cold, cooler in the
tropics. People do not resist thermal
shock well. Nor do works of art.
Such elementary observations have
influenced Louvre Abu Dhabi.
It wishes to create a welcoming
world serenely combining light and
shadow, reflection and calm.
It wishes to belong to a country, to
its history, to its geography without
becoming a flat translation, the
pleonasm that results in boredom and
convention. It also aims at emphasizing
the fascination generated by rare
encounters.
THE “RAIN OF LIGHT”
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi
THE “RAIN OF LIGHT”
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi

The possibility of accessing the

museum by boat or finding a pontoon to
reach it by foot from the shore is equally
extraordinary, before being welcomed like
a much-awaited visitor willing to see
unique collections, linger in tempting
bookstores, or taste local teas, coffees and
delicacies.
It is both a calm and complex place.
A contrast amongst a series of museums
that cultivate their differences and their
authenticities.
It is a project founded on a major symbol
of Arab architecture: the dome. But here,
with its evident shift from tradition, the
dome is a modern proposal.
Facts about the New Louvre Abu Dhabi
Inspired by the architecture and traditions of the UAE

• The Children's Museum will target kids aged

between 6 and 12 years old, And will be an ideal
place to visit for school groups and families.
• The origins of Louvre Abu Dhabi date back to 2007
When France and the United Arab Emirates came
together to develop a new kind of cultural
institution.
•

• The Louvre Abu Dhabi is one of three museums on

Saadiyat Island. The other two set to be built are
the Zayed National Museum and Guggenheim Abu
Dhabi.
• The underground service tunnel that will connect
all 3 museums will be over 1km in length. And will
provide residents and tourists alike an easy route
to visit all three outstanding attractions.
• Abu Dhabi's history spans as far back as 7,000
years and the Louvre Abu Dhabi hopes to
emphasise the conservation and heritage of the
cultural traditions of the emirate.
Permanent Galleries Wings
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi
Permanent Galleries Wings
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi
THE “RAIN OF LIGHT”
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi

*Refer to the interior images folder

THE “RAIN OF LIGHT”
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi
THE DOME
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi
THE DOME
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi

A vast dome, 180 meters in diameter,

covers the majority of the museum city
and is visible from the sea, the
surrounding areas and Abu Dhabi city.

This dome was constructed by the

Austrian company Waagner Biro who
specialize in steel structures.
The dome consists of eight different
layers: four outer layers clad in stainless
steel and four inner layers clad in
aluminum separated by a steel frame
five meters high.
The frame is made of 10,000 structural
components pre-assembled into 85
super-sized elements, each weighing up
to 50 tones.
• The dome’s complex pattern is the result
of a highly studied geometric
design.
• It involved close collaboration between
the architectural design team at Ateliers
Jean Nouvel and the structural
engineers at BuroHappold Engineering.
• The pattern is repeated at various
sizes and angles in the eight
superimposed layers.
• Each ray of light must penetrate the
eight layers before appearing then
disappearing. The result is a cinematic
effect as the sun’s path progresses
throughout the day.
• At night, it forms 7,850 stars visible from
both inside and out. Named the ‘rain
of light’, this effect has been the
subject of many models and mock-ups
over the years and is one of the defining
features of the concept.
In his spectacular design for the Louvre, Nouvel
took the hard shadows of palm fronds in an
oasis as inspiration. Like a traditional Arab
village, the entire museum consists of 55 white
cubic houses roofed by the large, shade-giving
dome. He wanted to create a “Rain of Light”:
sharp bundles of light that would transform the
walls and squares into a speckled, surreal world
as opposed to the balanced light relationships
found in the exhibition spaces, such as direct
lighting from spotlights.
Abu Dhabi’s hot, dry climate makes shelter
from the rain unnecessary. This means there is
no roof membrane in the true sense. In fact,
the dome is perforated like basket weaving. The
supporting structure for the dome is a steel
framework which rests on just four supports.
The top and undersides of the dome are each
covered with four levels of cruciform aluminum
profiles of various sizes which form grid
structures with Oriental patterns. Turning and
shifting the pattern dissolves the clear
geometry.
Since light effects are difficult to estimate
despite computer renderings and large-scale
models, the clients had a mock-up to the scale
of 1:1 erected beside the building site. It had a
completely darkened 20-metre-high hall whose
roof forms a dome-shaped cut-out and through
whose gaps the bundles of light shine down to
the ground.
To be able to manage the enormous
dimensions in a building and planning phase of
only three years, it was not just the
construction of the steel supporting framework
and the covering of aluminum. In the logistics
on the building side, exact coordination with all
the other sections with which the steel
constructors had to share the cranes and access
roads was decisive. The subdivision of the
dome construction into prefabricated elements
as large as possible, the Super-Sized Elements,
was crucial here. The whole dome was divided
into 85 of these elements, which were put
together on assembly towers and then
connected with lose rods.
THE DOME LAYERS
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi
Mock-Up To The Scale of 1:1
THE DOME PATTERN
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi
THE DOME STRUCTURE
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi

• The dome is supported by only four

permanent piers, each 110 metres
apart.
• These are hidden within the museum
buildings to give the impression that
the dome is floating.
• The interior dome elevation is 29
metres from the ground floor to the
underside of the cladding.
• The highest point of the dome is 40
metres above sea level and 36 metres
above ground floor level.
THE DOME STRUCTURE
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi

• Each of the 8 layers of

cladding in the dome now
consists of these repeating
star-like shapes.
• Every layer, however, is
respectively scaled and
rotated to add complexity
and perception of
randomness from a
geometrically logical
pattern:
THE DOME STRUCTURE
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi

• The dome comprises 10,968

individual elements, 7,850
individual stars, 8 cladding
layers, and weighs more than
7,000 tons, supported by two
layers of steelwork
• "we consider the dome to have
10 layers," says Pottinger.
• To support all of this, four
support towers are hidden
among the various room
structures within the museum to
achieve a floating appearance,
which was vital to the vision of
the dome.
• Considering the massive size and
weight of the dome, the physical
construction of it proved to be a
difficult task.
• workers formed the dome in 85
"super-size" components which
were then lifted onto over 120
temporary towers, each one
different due to the irregular
spaces below.
• Once assembly was completed,
the entire dome was lifted by
synchronized hydraulic jacks
over 600 millimeters vertically to
sit on their permanent bearings.
• And the engineering marvels of
the dome don't stop at the end
of construction.
• In order to ensure that the
structure can be maintained, the
design team has developed
several access strategies.
• A walkway around the perimeter
of the dome allows entrance to
an extensive network of inner
walkways.
• Furthermore, a walk able
stainless steel mesh exists across
the entire bottom surface with
strategically-placed service
islands which allow access to the
top surface
*Refer to the construction images folder
Facts About The Dome
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi
• The huge floating dome weighs
approximately 7,500 tones, which is the
same weight as the Eiffel Tower in Paris,
France!
• There is a total of 7,850 stars that make
the geometric structure, each one is of a
various size and angle, intertwined in a
total of eight different cladding layers.
• Four of the outer layers are clad in
stainless steel, while the four inner layers
are clad in aluminum.
• The largest star is 13 meters in diameter
and it weights 1.3 tones!
• The highest point of the dome is 40
meters above sea level and the ground
floor level is 36 meters above sea level.
• There are 4 piers that support the dome.
Helping to create its floating effect. Each is
110 meters apart, and hidden within the
museum building.
• The diameter of the dome's base is 180
meters, which will provide ample shade and
relief from the desert sun for visitors.
• A total of 120 scaffoldings were used during
construction
• The lifting weight capacity of the super-sized
crane used during construction is 1,600 tones
and the tallest height of the crane is 230
meters.
• The number of trucks used to transport the
crane is 90
Facts About The Dome
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi
• The huge floating dome weighs
approximately 7,500 tones, which is the
same weight as the Eiffel Tower in Paris,
France!
• There is a total of 7,850 stars that make
the geometric structure, each one is of a
various size and angle, intertwined in a
total of eight different cladding layers.
• Four of the outer layers are clad in
stainless steel, while the four inner layers
are clad in aluminum.
• The largest star is 13 meters in diameter
and it weights 1.3 tones!
• The highest point of the dome is 40
meters above sea level and the ground
floor level is 36 meters above sea level.
• There are 4 piers that support the dome.
Helping to create its floating effect. Each is
110 meters apart, and hidden within the
museum building.
• The diameter of the dome's base is 180
meters, which will provide ample shade and
relief from the desert sun for visitors.
• A total of 120 scaffoldings were used during
construction
• The lifting weight capacity of the super-sized
crane used during construction is 1,600 tones
and the tallest height of the crane is 230
meters.
• The number of trucks used to transport the
crane is 90
THE “RAIN OF LIGHT” AT NIGHT
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi
THE “RAIN OF LIGHT” AT NIGHT
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi

• Over 500 lights were used –

300 alone for the "Rain of
Light" effect. We opted for
various moving lights (Profile),
which we balanced out to
perfection and installed
between the cladding and the
construction of the unique
dome roof.
• They made the light from the
spotlights look like sunbeams
penetrating the roof.
• In line with the museum's
clear-cut design and lighting
concept, we only used pure
white light to ensure a
homogeneous atmosphere in
terms of the colors used.
THE “RAIN OF LIGHT” AT NIGHT
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi

• The lights protected with

special covers to ensure
that the equipment worked
without a hitch throughout
the whole period despite
being so close to the sea.
• These covers inflate
themselves to provide
protection against the saline
sea spray and other
influences, while also
providing additional cooling
with their fans.
THE “RAIN OF LIGHT”
Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi
Architecture & Contemporary Technology
Dr. Tawfeeq Abo Ghazza

Fares Zahi Sweidan – 8180080

Moath Al-Dalaien – 8180055