Zayed National Museum, UAE

Forming the highest hill in the Saadiyat Cultural District of Abu Dhabi, Zayed National Museum is an architectural manifestation of the founding of the modern United Arab Emirates and the life of its founding father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

The architecture sculpts natural light, just as it is sculpted by it.  The wings project striated shadows and swashes of light on the sides of the triple-height walls and unfurling columns of the museum’s main space.  So, it’s essential the lighting design work in concert with this architectural play of natural light as well as stay out of its way.

The only ceilings in the space are the undersides of the pods. Tiny track fixtures are recessed in the concentric grooves in the pods for lighting the Ticket Desk, Meeting Place, Performance Space and Museum Store below them.  The 2013 specification from featured detailed drawings of the tiny 600-lumen lights 10 years before they were available on the market.

Directionality reinforces the contrast between electric and natural lighting.   All lighting on the wing-side of the columns comes down the walls while any lighting from the interior-side of the columns flows up the walls.

The spaces between the pods are lighted from the underside of the Gallery-level walkway.  These systems dim off in different areas according to an astronomic clock to give the stage to the natural lighting.

At dusk the walls surrounding the pods begin to be illuminated by far-throw uplights that are mounted in the sides of the pods.

The Gallery Level walkway meanders between the pods and unfurling columns discovering views of the pods and lobby below through semi-circular balconies and leading to the exhibit space inside the pods.  This space is primarily lighted by balustrade lighting along the perimeter and the uplighted backs of the columns.