{"id":70126,"date":"2026-06-30T17:46:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T13:46:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/?p=70126"},"modified":"2026-07-02T13:31:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T09:31:18","slug":"abu-dhabi-to-get-its-performing-arts-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/abu-dhabi-to-get-its-performing-arts-centre\/","title":{"rendered":"Abu Dhabi to get its performing arts centre"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Some official information has been announced for the long-rumoured performing arts centre for Saadiyat Island. Designed by the late Frank Gehry (and nothing like his Guggenheim, now nearing completion on another part of the island), Dar al Funoon \u2013 literally, \u2018house of arts\u2019 \u2013 looks to be an impressive multi-functional development that should be able to host a range of performance types 365 days a year.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Construction works have already begun, with the completion date forecast as 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dar al Funoon Abu Dhabi appears to be the last essential piece in the Saadiyat Cultural District <\/strong><\/a>plan. We have two different museums \u2013 the Zayed National Museum<\/a><\/strong> and the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi <\/a><\/strong>\u2013 alongside two very different art galleries, Louvre Abu Dhabi<\/a><\/strong> and the imminent Guggenheim Abu Dhabi<\/a><\/strong>, with the quirky but very sexy teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi<\/a><\/strong> added to the mix. The obvious omission was a top-end performance venue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi, describes Dar al Funoon as \u201ca deliberate investment in the future of our cultural ecosystem, and the scale of our ambition is clear\u201d. As well as providing a permanent space for performance, with \u201cinternational partnerships \u2026 and co-productions with leading global institutions\u201d, there will be a pedagogical element \u2013 we\u2019re promised artistic residencies, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And of course there will be F&B and retail opportunities, some 5,000m2<\/sup><\/sup> of them. In typical Abu Dhabi style, though, there has been no announcement of the overall size or specifications of the building, so we don\u2019t know how impressive this is. But as a pointer, the Red Theater at NYUAD Abu Dhabi \u2013 capacity about 700 \u2013 is less than 500m2<\/sup>, so Dar Al Funoon will have enough restaurants and shops to fill more than ten Red Theaters \u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There will also be a rooftop terrace \u201cfor special events to enhance the visitor experience\u201d; maybe this is included in the 5,000m2<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generally though the capacity planning seems spot on. Abu Dhabi doesn\u2019t have too many venues with the technical and seating capacity to host a variety of different sizes and styles of performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main hall will have \u201cmore than\u201d 2,000 seats, \u201cworld-class\u201d acoustics, and an orchestra pit that can take 120 musicians. That\u2019s about the seating capacity of Dubai Opera but with a much bigger band.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Equally important, there will be smaller spaces on site in Abu Dhabi \u2013 a 400-seat studio theatre and a 250-seat \u201cjazz venue\u201d (presumably with a bar?). And the big extra is a 3,500-seat open-air amphitheatre, which presumably won\u2019t be used all year round but will be great for the odd Greek tragedy and the better-known-but-still-cool indie bands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve been here before, of course. Back in the enthusiastic and hectic planning days of the noughties, DCT Abu Dhabi\u2019s predecessor TDIC was set up to develop Saadiyat Island as a tourism and cultural hub. In 2007 Gehry\u2019s Guggenheim and Jean Nouvel\u2019s Louvre were announced, along with a Maritime Museum designed by Tadao Ando and a performing arts centre by Zaha Hadid. (The Zayed National Museum was referenced but hadn\u2019t then been commissioned.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two of these projects were later dropped apparently because of the international financial crisis of the late noughties. The Zaha Hadid design was going to have five theatres \u2013 a music hall, concert hall, opera house, drama theatre and a flexible performance space with a combined seating capacity of 6,300 \u2013 plus \u201cpossibly\u201d an Academy of Performing Arts. It looked very much of its time (and very Zaha Hadid) but in the event it was probably overspecified; that\u2019s an awful lot of purpose-specific theatres, for instance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What you could have won: Zaha Hadid’s performing arts centre from 2006-7<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gehry\u2019s studio has produced what sounds like a much more versatile building. It will be one of the final completed buildings from the hand of the celebrated architect, who died last December at the age of 96. Renders show a rippling, fabric-like exterior enveloping it (presumably someone has thought about ways to brush off the dust) that is intended to evoke the movement and energy of music and performance; it looks rather lovely, a neat contrast to the more angular Guggenheim. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Looking North over the Performing Arts Centre’s billowing covers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We do know its location<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 in Saadiyat’s coming-real-soon-now Marina district, facing Abu Dhabi city directly to the southeast of Sheikh Khalifa Bridge. And beyond that there\u2019s no public information available about the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So we decided to see how this all fits into the bums-on-seats options for performance venues in Abu Dhabi:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dar al Funoon Amphitheatre: 3,500 seats<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 no real alternative locally. Etihad Arena <\/a><\/strong>on Yas can take 18,000 (so it\u2019s good for pop concerts and sports); Etihad Live <\/a><\/strong>claims to be the Middle East’s largest outdoor venue, hosting the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after-race concerts \u2013 which is what it’s set up for. Emirates Palace used to have an open-air performance space (we saw a great show by The Killers there several years ago) but the hotel seems to have a better use for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dar al Funoon main house: 2,000 seats<\/p>\n\n\n\n

… Emirates Palace Auditorium<\/a><\/strong>, currently the go-to venue for orchestral concerts and touring ballets, seats a maximum of 2,400; but it’s technically and logistically restricted, basically because it’s in a hotel. Du Forum<\/a><\/strong> on Yas is larger, seating up to 4,500 or so, but is more of a flexibly-configured space geared to commercial long-run shows and big-ticket events. The Abu Dhabi National Theatre<\/a><\/strong> also has a 2,250-seat auditorium but while its facilities have been updated it was built in 1981; it also has a role as a home for Arabic, Khaleeji and Abu Dhabi-specific events. And The Red Theater<\/a><\/strong> at the NYUAD Arts Center, which is undoubtedly one of the best-equipped proscenium stages in the UAE with a generous sprung-wood stage that ideal for dance and large-scale productions, tops out at about 700 seats \u2013 thus fitting neatly between Dar al Funoon\u2019s studio theatre and the main house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dar al Funoon studio theatre: 400 seats<\/p>\n\n\n\n

… This is a decent size, especially if it will be as configurable as implied. The NYUAD Arts Center\u2019s Black Box<\/a><\/strong>, the only direct local equivalent, has around 250 seats; the Blue Hall<\/strong><\/a>, purpose-built for recitals, has a capacity of 150. The Manarat al Saadiyat<\/a><\/strong> can do 650 in its auditorium, but this is definitely geared for talks and presentations rather than performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dar al Funoon jazz venue: 250 seats<\/p>\n\n\n\n

… With four years of development to come, this could well morph into something else. Presumably it won\u2019t simply be a smaller studio theatre or recital hall; certainly we\u2019d like to see a proper jazz bar, perhaps minus the wreaths of cigarette smoke \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The night view suggests some fancy performance projections, but then the render is credited in part to Sora<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Some official information has been announced for the long-rumoured performing arts centre for Saadiyat Island. Designed by the late Frank Gehry (and nothing like his Guggenheim, now nearing completion on another part of the island), Dar al Funoon \u2013 literally, [… more]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":70129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[162],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-centre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}