Gehry’s Last Dance: The Curtain Rises on Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi’s cultural precinct is moving into its next phase, with construction now under way on the Frank Gehry-designed performing arts centre on Saadiyat Island. Dar Al Funoon Abu, or House of the Arts Abu Dhabi, is the latest addition to the city’s rapidly expanding cultural district, where Gehry’s Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is due to open on December 11. One of Gehry’s final major works before his death in December 2025, aged 96, Dar Al Funoon is scheduled to open in 2030 despite reports that the main construction contract was still under evaluation as recently as August. Newly released renderings from the Department of Culture and Tourism—Abu Dhabi (DCT) highlight Gehry’s flamboyant signature style of undulating metallic forms, with sweeping curves and sculptural volumes that give the performing arts centre a distinctly theatrical presence. Japanese acoustics specialists Nagata Acoustics, known for numerous global concert halls, were engaged for the project, with the group’s founder, Yasuhisa Toyota, coming out of retirement for the high-profile project. Saadiyat, 15km from the city centre, is already home to Louvre Abu Dhabi, Zayed National Museum, Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi and the immersive art centre teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi. ▲ One of Gehry’s final major works before his death in December 2025, aged 96, Dar Al Funoon is scheduled to open in 2030. A symbol for the region His Excellency Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of the DCT, said in a press statement that the centre will anchor Saadiyat as a cultural epicentre for the region. “Dar al Funoon Abu Dhabi will be a permanent home for performance at the highest international level, bringing together leading artists, companies, and creative talent from the UAE, the region, and across the world,” he said. “Through artistic residencies, international partnerships, and world-class productions, it will expand opportunities for cultural exchange, inspire new generations of creatives, and further strengthen Abu Dhabi’s position as a global centre for creativity, exchange, and artistic excellence.” According to DCT Abu Dhabi, the building will feature a transparent façade that allows a line of sight into its interior spaces, a gesture described as reflecting the city’s “commitment to openness, engagement, and cultural exchange.” With a multipurpose performance hall, open-air amphitheatre, studio and jazz venue, the space will be capable of welcoming more than 6000 guests with opera, ballet, theatre and other live performances 365 days a year. The main hall will seat more than 2000 patrons, with an orchestra pit that can hold up to 120 musicians. Additionally, it will house a 5000sq m food, beverage and retail precinct. Dar al Funoon is yet another symbolic move towards Abu Dhabi’s push to build infrastructure around its creative economy. The emirate has held the UNESCO Creative City of Music status since 2021. ▲ Saadiyat Island has become a cultural epicentre for the region. Cultural landmarks, from Bilbao to Abu Dhabi Gehry, a Canadian-American architect, became one of the defining figures of late 20th-century architecture, creating landmark buildings dedicated to the arts that also shape the landscapes in which they sit. His Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, completed in 1997, became synonymous with the so-called “Bilbao effect”—the idea that a major cultural building could help transform a city’s international image and economy. Gehry’s performing arts portfolio also includes the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, opened in 2003, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago in 2004, the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts opened in New York in 2003, the New World Center in Miami in 2011 and the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin in 2017. Australia’s only completed Gehry building, the $180 million Dr Chau Chak Wing at the University of Technology, Sydney was opened by Gehry himself in 2015. New generation of cultural landmarks Abu Dhabi doesn’t stand alone in commissioning architecture’s biggest names to create head-turning performing arts projects in recent years. Locally, Brisbane welcomed Australia’s newest cultural space with the unveiling of the Glasshouse Theatre in March after a four-year delay. Construction began on the taxpayer-funded theatre in 2020 with plans for a grand opening in 2022, however, the site was deluged by floods. In July 2024, a knuckle boom crane accidentally cracked one of the waved glass panels, and in May 2025 a worker received a static shock while cleaning dust, closing the site down once again. Designed by local practice Blight Rayner in collaboration with Snøhetta, the 1500-seat venue now makes Queensland Performing Arts Centre the largest of its kind under one roof in Australia. In China, the Shanghai Grand Opera House designed by Norwegian practice Snøhetta in collaboration with East China Architectural Design and Research Institute is due to open on October 17. The 1000-seat Perelman Performing Arts Center, designed by Joshua Ramus, opened at the World Trade Center in New York in 2023. Taipei’s 3000-seat OMA-designed Performing Arts Centre designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten opened in 2022.

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Kirsten Craze
Fri 02 Oct 26

Gehry’s Last Dance: The Curtain Rises on Abu Dhabi

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