Moriyama & Teshima Architects Partner Brian Rudy and Associate Mohammed al Riffai were invited to Dubai this past December to participate in a panel discussion on the design of the Etihad Museum! Moderated by Dabbagh Architects, the talk focused on how to reimagine cultural facilities in Dubai, as spaces for community, public engagement, and sharing of knowledge.

Brian and Mohammed’s insights on the architecture of the Etihad Museum, completed in 2016, explained how the museum design honours the 1971 signing of the document that created the United Arab Emirates, establishing it as its own country. During this event, they also led a tour of the building – detailing the highly sophisticated parametric design strategies that were employed to achieve the pavilion’s double-curved glass fiber-reinforced polymer envelope, and revealing the intent behind the carefully choreographed circulation path and sequence of activated spaces guiding visitors to the lowest level of the permanent gallery.

“The building was essentially formed from wrapping a piece of paper, and it is held up by seven columns – the seven pens of the seven Emirati. That is how the story starts.”
– Brian Rudy, Moriyama & Teshima Architects

Thank you to Alserkal Initiatives for organizing this worthwhile event.