Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Finally Opens

Frank Gehry’s museum in Abu Dhabi opens on 11 December 2026, two decades after planning began.

After two decades of delays (planning began in 2006, construction started in 2011, then stalled for several years and resumed only in 2019), the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi has announced its official opening date: 11 December 2026.

Frank Gehry’s building, at 42,000 square metres of defiantly asymmetrical forms, is larger than his museum in Bilbao. The architect died in December 2025 and did not live to see it open.

Inside are galleries of contemporary art, a centre for art and technology, spaces for children, an archive, a library and a conservation laboratory. It will be the largest of the Guggenheim’s four museums worldwide.

Source: Dezeen

Illustration: model of the Saadiyat Island cultural district with the Guggenheim building. Photo: Alberto-g-rovi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.