Dubai: Dubbed the most beautiful building in the world, Dubai’s Museum of the Future (MOTF) received more than one million visitors from 163 countries in a year since its official opening.
This was announced by Mohammad Al Gergawi, UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of the Museum of the Future on Tuesday.
The museum was officially opened by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on February 22, 2022. The one-million mark constitutes a milestone in Dubai and the UAE’s path to imagine, inspire and design the future.
Commenting on the landmark visitor count, Al Gergawi said: “We pledged that the Museum of the Future would host one million visitors in its first year, and today we celebrate the achievement of this target and the launch of a new year for the museum, during which we will continue to design the future for a better world for all in the coming years and decades.”
“Since opening, the Museum of the Future has contributed to bringing about a clear shift in the traditional view of museums, and has proven the importance of harnessing future foresight, in line with His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s vision to transform the designing and creation of the future into a complete institutional framework. Imagining the future and implementing its changes and advancements is a pivotal pillar towards the success of governments and societies.
Home to architects of future
Al Gergawi further said: “Mohammed bin Rashid’s vision has allowed the Museum of the Future to become home to the world’s top experts, scientists, great minds and architects of the future and the most prominent international institutions foreseeing the future. Meanwhile, humanity is becoming more assured that the future can be designed and that the changes to our environment should not be ignored. The Museum of the Future, with its unique architectural design, has become a global symbol of the future and a key regional and international hub for the advancement of science and knowledge-sharing.”
He stated that the MOTF has reinforced Dubai’s global position as one of the top cities of the future, while embodying a successful global model that proves that cities of the future can employ and implement technological transformations to serve their societies. He added that the museum sends an important message from the UAE to the world, that the future requires more positive collaboration and action for the benefit of our future generations.
Read More
Landmark achievements
Since opening, the museum — an initiative by the Dubai Future Foundation — has hosted more than 180 local, regional and global activations, events, conferences and forums that cover technology, entrepreneurship, economy, space, tourism, culture and varied futurist-specific sectors, all the while receiving more than 200 media delegations from around the world.
More than 1,000 international dignitaries, ministers, officials and experts visited the museum throughout the past year, including around 20 heads of government and official delegations from South Korea, Estonia, Luxembourg, China, Greece, Hong Kong, Thailand, Rwanda and Mauritius, among others.
International awards
Since its inauguration, the Museum of the Future has won ten international awards from global institutions and specialised industry magazines for its museum content quality, future sciences, and architectural design. It also attained the LEED Platinum status certification — the ultimate certificate of recognition a building can obtain for sustainable and environmentally-friendly design, construction, and operation.
International institutions and organisations
During the past year, the MOTF hosted many heads and representatives of international institutions and organisations, including Daren Tang, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation, Gerd Müller, Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Maimunah Sharif, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, Arturo Brice, Director of the World Competitiveness Centre of the International Institute for Management Development, and Dr Samira Asma, Assistant Director-General of the World Health Organisation.
Future Talks
The museum also led global discussions through the ‘Future Talks’ series, with each session highlighting, discussing and exploring humanity’s latest discoveries as well as those yet to come. ‘Future Talks’ hosted some of the most prominent visionaries and thought leaders in the world, including Professor Greg Clark, Global Head of Future Cities and New Industries at HSBC Group.
Alex Kipman, Technical Fellow and Vice President of Microsoft Technologies, Artificial Intelligence and Mixed Reality and Professor Osama Al-Khatib, Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Robotics Lab at Stanford University, also partook in a Future Talks session, in addition to actor and UN Goodwill Ambassador for International Fund for Agricultural Development, Idris Elba, yoga instructor and environmental activist Sadguru Jagadish Vasudev, and global leader in the field of mind-body medicine and motivational speaker, Deepak Chopra.
Global partnerships
As the MOTF sought to enhance its role as a global headquarters for future-shaping institutions around the world, while enhancing collaboration and knowledge exchange between them, during the 2022 edition of the Dubai Future Forum, the Dubai Future Foundation signed cooperation agreements with the World Futures Studies Federation, The Millennium Project and the Public Sector Foresight Network, among other entities.
The Dubai Future Forum was hosted by the MOTF under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Dubai Future Foundation. More than 400 prominent international personalities, government officials and futurist experts and specialists from around the world participated in the Forum, in addition to more than 45 international organisations and institutions, in the largest global gathering of its kind for future experts. The next edition of the Dubai Future Forum will be held on November 27 and 28, 2023.
Centre for Arab brilliance
The MOTF is now recognised as centre for futurists across various sectors in the region and the world, becoming a comprehensive test bed for testing and developing emerging technologies and ideas. During the past year, the museum has established its keenness to invest in the creative minds of the Arab region — embracing ideas, projects, initiatives, research and studies that bring added value to products and services of the future. The aim is for these creative energies to accelerate Arab scientific development and create a better future for the people of the region.
Future Experience
In its first year, the MOTF gave visitors from across the world the unique opportunity to witness fundamental experiences that show potential future scenarios for humanity. Across its several floors, the museum uses advanced technologies to depict the future. A distinguishing feature, the museum’s elevator, is a crucial part of the museum’s journey-based narrative, with a simulation of OSS Hope — the museum’s very own spaceship — to help guests learn about potential life aboard a space station. The experience introduces visitors to the exciting concept of visiting space in the near future, as well as a reimagined landscape of Dubai and the world in the year 2071 through efforts made in restoring the natural ecosystem and sustainability of the planet’s resources. The journey then continues to unravel an array of different scenarios and adventures that encourages visitors to take charge of their own future.
Future Technologies
The museum employs the latest technologies of the future, such as artificial intelligence, and interaction between humans and machines, to launch meaningful dialogues that motivate visitors to draw their own perceptions about the future.
The museum, standing at 77 metres high and extending over an area of 30,000 square metres was designed to be an engineering marvel that connects the past to the future, with an architectural style that differs entirely from the concept of traditional museums to appeal to innovative thinkers and future-curious visitors from around the world.
