Monday, February 16th. Continued
Tonight we are on our own for dinner so I have decided to go exploring. I had heard that the Future Museum was worth a visit so I had tried to buy a ticket online but failed. I wanted to at least see the building up close. Here’s a description of it I read online:
‘A bold name deserves a bold building – something delivered with aplomb by Dubai practice Killa Design . Envisioned as an incubator of scientific research, the Museum of the Future is a place to stretch your mind; one exhibit invites visitors to imagine life in 2071. The eye-shaped building itself is already iconic: constructed using cutting-edge robotic technology and parametric design (a process based on algorithms), it’s 77 metres high but has no internal pillars, and is clad with 1,024 steel panels, the same as the basic unit of digital information stored on a computer. Symbolic LED calligraphy on the façade heightens its landmark appeal.’
So I took the Dubai Metro to that station. At first the Metro was underground but several stations later rose to become a monorail giving excellent views of the skyscrapers. When I exited the Metro I walked through the tunnels that led right into the lobby of the Future Museum and tried to buy a ticket at a kiosk, but it said it was sold out for the day. So I lined up where people were checking in with their tickets and asked if I could buy one. For a premium price, roughly $100 instead of $60, I purchased a ticket that allowed me to enter straight away and jump the queue. It is not really a museum, it is really a science centre. You are to pretend that it is 2071 (the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the UAE) and that humanity is trying to rebuild life on Earth after almost completely destroying it. Large solar farms have been built on the moon and beam back to Earth all the energy we need. From the lobby you enter an elevator that simulates blasting off from Dubai and you watch the city and country recede until you reach the space station and dock with it. This space station has become the new Noah’s Arc and has the DNA required to recreate all life on Earth, preserved in a large room full of jars each containing a hologram of each species. On the bottom floor are a number of future technologies including robot pets, robot assistants that resemble people, flying taxis, future cars… It was a very interesting premise and a very interactive experience, that would be great for kids of all ages. But, I loved the building more than anything. The structure is unique and gorgeous inside and out. On one level you can go out to an observation deck where you wind up standing in the ‘eye’ portion of the building, incredible! It is really hard to imagine the inside of the museum from the outside…
Then I got back on the Metro and went to the Burj Khalifa station to see the fountain show. I had to walk all the way through the Dubai Mall with hundreds of people to reach the pools at the base of the building. I found a great spot to photograph the building lit up against the night sky and suddenly a light show erupted from it. When that ended I stood there watching people and soaking up the atmosphere until the fountains erupted synced to Arabic music and the water danced around much like a Las Vegas display. It was beautiful and fun. By then it was 10:45 and I had to forgo any further exploring, so I retraced my route on the Metro and returned to the hotel, where I found that I had an email from the Kenyan gentleman I met in the Cultural Museum in Doha. We had exchanged emails and somehow I had written it incorrectly so when I tried to write to him it bounced back. I thought I’d lost contact with him, but not so! Thankfully he contacted me. So, my night time solo excursion salvaged a disappointing day in Dubai.
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