The museum is one of Pei’s best projects after the Louvre renovation and the pyramid.

The geometric patterns of islamic patterns fit so perfectly I.M. Pei’s general motif and his structural design for this museum. The patterns, used sparingly in the modern crisp building, are quite elegant. When one comes into the interior, one is confronted with the backside of a grand staircase, which is quite sculptural. Beyond that on center is the Doha skyline “living room,” which frames the new downtown tower district and allows visitors to have a cup of tea and enjoy the space.

Within the lobby is a five-story space that a large circular chandelier and the dome at the center–quite beautiful. The cafe is also beautiful and has a wonderful yellow-tinted glass, as does the new fifth floor restaurant, which is visible from below (but not yet open). The galleries are on floors 1-3. Of course above the ground floor level are wonderfully detailed spaces filled with wood, granite, and metal that form the backdrop for the art exhibits.

The gallery is designed to be quite flexible to allow for changeability of tables and casework. The exhibit designer detailed the casework to fit into the architecture and assist with clean flow from one gallery to the other. The design allows visitors to cleanse their pallette before encountering the new gallery. The galleries are kept at a low light level and the lighting is very tightly integrated into the spaces and each and every artifact.

Inside, there were many fine exhibits, but one thing caught my eye particularly: the shadows. Sometimes museum lighting causes multiple shadows on the wall or display table, and, in this case, they were more exciting then the pieces itself. Generally, I am taken by the odd shadows of a Rococco frame in the Art Institute of Chicago since it has so many edges. But in this case, the three shadows come together to create different layers and depths of this simple circular shadow. It contrasted elegantly with the detail of the piece itself.

The lighting both at the towers’ bases and at sunset was gorgeous and dramatic.

These huge icons are at Katarra, a project in Doha that has various cultural events.

The Baskakija is filled with traditional buildings with narrow lanes of galleries and restauarants and a great trendy hotel that is filled with wonderful unexpected art that one could see in Santa Fe or Taos. The shadows are deep and the door textures have wonderful details. The hotel has a great lobby and two great courtyards. One presents the huge doll figures you’ll see in the pictures below. The tonal qualities of the openings are toned subtlety, almost like a charcoal or pencil drawing. The sculptures are very well done, but also eerie generally. It’s an interesting environment.

The view from a distance is unique and powerful, but I wonder how the subterranean spaces will interact wth the blossoms above grade. The museum and this exhibit represent a great program to honor the father of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed.

This is an amazingly unique and creative building. The museum’s spaces look like they could be wonderful. I love how Ando reinvents himself with his simple vocabulary, in this case, using the inspiration of boat sails to express the curve of the building. A couple models are made of wood and they are, themselves pieces of art.

For a Westerner in Abu Dhabi, there is barely anything to do but shopping, so I would love to be exposed more Emirate cultural depth. The Emiratis’ pearl harvesting, trade, dow boats and more continue to inspire me.

The building designs are wonderfully imaginative, including the zen-inspired Maritime Museum by Tadao Ando (about which I’ll post details tomorrow), the beautifully arabic Jean Nouvel dome with its wonderful shade and filtered light, and of course Zaha Hadid’s otherworldly, soft, and sensual performing arts venues. I am concerned that the local construction wooers will not be able to render Hadid well here, having seen the construction disaster that is her opera hall in Guangzhou, China.

A separate room features Sir Norman Foster design for the Zayed Museum, which is an amazing centerpiece. I’ll profile that on Wednesday.

The overall exhibit talks about Abu Dhabi and the importance of bringing culture to the Emirates. The legacy of Sheikh Zayed will certainly be solidified through these great projects if they move forward. The only one that troubles me is Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim–it looks like a typical bunch of toys left unkept. Some compare it with the Bilbao project, which is somewhat more controlled. This one will not have much usable space as it’s just a bunch of forms tossed about.

Driving from the Dubai Mall the other day, I happened to see  two penguin-shaped buildings. I thought I ad seen it all but two penguins in the middle of the desert–now that’s a new one. There they are, in the Dubai skyline, marching right along Sheik Zayed Road.

If one penguin is good, why, two are better.

You may also notice the Big Ben-like tower right by the penguins. (I’ve added a shot of it below.) This goes to show the respect that Dubai holds for the British: the Brits discovered the Emiratis’ oil reserves, so they let them create crazy buildings. It’s fortunate that the craziest have remained on drawing paper never to see the light of day given the economic meltdown here.

This piece is not just the chandelier but also the ground plane with a riser that brings cars and other things from the lower level. The floor has LED so the show can be on the ground as well as above. The pieces of the chandelier move independently as well as together as three sections.

This is a very well crafted piece.