ABSTRACT
The future Guggenheim and Louvre museums in Abu Dhabi will be without doubt a great attraction for art and museum lovers from the UAE, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and all over the world. They are successful institutions in their countries of origin, as well as in their recent new ‘satellite versions’, such as the Guggenheim museums in Bilbao and Venice, and the Louvre in Lens. But these satellite museums pose a serious question: while the Guggenheim and Louvre have been known as quintessential parts of the American and French cultural experiences respectively, will these institutions be able to handle the challenging task of representing a different local culture? Furthermore, is it a suitable direction and vision for the UAE to attract tourists and visitors, or is there another approach, coming from the inside out, rather than from the outside in? The four works discussed in this chapter give an example of what we believe is a more appropriate way to reect local culture and identity in museum and cultural site architecture.
