Dubai: The year 2018 already saw the opening of two of Dubai’s major attractions – the Dubai Safari and the Dubai Frame – and residents have still one more big project to look forward to.
The Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Library, which is set to cost Dh1 billion, is slated for a mid-2018 opening, and Dubai Municipality officials have been closely monitoring its progress.
Eng Hussain Nasser Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality, inspected the site’s progress, along with Dawood Al Hajri, Assistant Director-General for Engineering and Planning Sector, and a number of municipality officials and engineers.
Although the exact date of the opening has not been revealed, the project is still scheduled to be ready in the next six months.
The massive library was designed in the shape of a lectern, and covers an area of 66,000 square metres. Located on the Dubai Creek in Al Jaddaf area, the project consists of a main building with basement, ground floor and seven floors, in addition to a central warehouse for books.
Once opened, residents can also look forward to a conservation of books, manuscripts and documents, in addition to a display of rare artefacts from the Al Maktoum family collection.
A museum celebrating the heritage and the history of human civilization will also be available to the public.
The architecture
The architecture of the project is based on the traditional lectern, which carry books in general and more specifically, the Quran.
In the same way, a library carries and preserves the cultural treasures of a nation in the form of literature, periodicals and audio visual media.
“In this respect, the architectural concept of the library is based symbolically on the lectern, the Rehl, and translates this into a modern 21st century vocabulary,” according to Dubai Municipality.
