The Future is Bright
We spoke to Majed Al Mansoori, Deputy Executive Director of Dubai Future Foundation about what it takes to build an icon and how the UAE supports such endeavours
Can you tell us how the concept of the Museum of the Future came about? The Museum’s journey began in 2013 as an exhibit showcasing future trends in government services, healthcare, education, and technology during the World Government Summit event. The Museum of the Future was conceived to fulfill an appetite that surrounded future opportunities, challenges, uncertainty, and speculation. It stands for everything that gives people the courage to break free from false perceptions, limitations, and collectively make the future beneficial for all. The building itself is truly iconic.
What is at the heart of the design/ its DNA? Standing at 77 meters tall, the Museum of the Future comprises three main parts: the green hill, the building, and the void. The green hill represents the earth, with solidity, permanence, and rootedness in place, time, and history. The void at the centre represents the unknown aspect of the future and that the people who seek a hopeful and optimistic future shall innovate, discover, and guide humanity towards it. One of the most visually striking aspects of the Museum is the Arabic calligraphy that decorate the building’s outer layer. The calligraphy represents inspiring excerpts from poetry written by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE.
“We may not live for hundreds of years, but the products of our creativity can last even longer.”
“The future belongs to those who can imagine it, design it, and execute it. It isn’t something you await, but rather create.”
“The secret to the renewal of life for the corporations, to the evolution of civilizations, and the development of humanity is simple: innovation.”
The excerpts hold such great importance and further emphasize the importance of designing our future through the power of imagination, innovation and creativity. What will be the primary focus in terms of content for the museum?
The Museum of the Future is a transformative environment that will engage all the senses in a life-altering experience that will invite visitors to look at their world through a new lens and encourage them to embrace innovative ways of thinking. It will showcase living, breathing examples of a better, hopeful future. It strives to be a place of tolerance and inclusiveness and promote a pro-human value system.
This is ‘The Icon Issue’ – who or what to you is iconic? The Museum of the Future is a global architectural icon which also symbolizes the vision of an iconic leader, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. We wouldn’t have been where we are today without the vision of our leaders. We have been brought up in the UAE to believe that we can achieve anything, to never look back, to always dream big and continuously push forward into the future.
“The future belongs to those who can imagine it, design it, and execute it. It isn’t something you await, but rather create.”