History and Ethnology Museum in Dubai

Notes

The Al Fahadi Fort is one of the oldest surviving structures in Dubai, dating from the latter half of the 18th century. It was situated within an open space up until the 1960s when the surrounding area was built.

In 1978, Sheikh Rashid Al Maktoum asked Makiya to restore the building and adapt it for reuse as a museum.

Work on a new building to expand the museum commenced a decade later and was completed in 1993. The Fort, 38 meters by 41 meters in plan with external walls 6 meters and 8 meters high, is built around a rectangular courtyard that includes circular towers at two corners. The new building is excavated into the adjacent land so that its roof forms a plaza across which the view to the Fort remains uninterrupted. In the plaza, a dhow, a traditional sailing vessel, is raised on a blue tinted glass platform that lets in light to the level below, giving the maritime display an underwater light effect. A spiral ramp within one of the old towers connects the old and new sections.

The underground extension adds 2000 sqm of exhibition spaces, staff offices, and workshops. The museum showcases the country’s history as a journey. A visitor would enter the museum via the fort, pass through the old building, and then stroll through the new structure. A double volume exit area with a spiral ramp connects the new building back to the plaza level, terminating the journey.
 

Sources

World Architecture A Critical Mosaic, Middle East, Vol. 5, p. 252-253.

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