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The New York-based Guggenheim Foundation signed a memorandum of understanding Saturday to build its fifth and largest art museum in the United Arab Emirates.
The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is to be built on an island in the Gulf off the UAE capital and will be designed by renowned US architect Frank Gehry who designed the Guggenheim museum in the Spanish city of Bilbao, the foundation's director Thomas Krens told reporters at the signing ceremony.
With an area of 30,000 square metres (322,800 square feet), the new museum on Saadiyat island will be larger than the existing Guggenheims in New York, Berlin, Bilbao and the Italian city of Venice, Krens added.
Construction is expected to last five years. The eventual price tag will depend on Gehry's design.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi, one of seven emirates that make up the UAE, signed the memorandum of understanding on behalf of the authorities.
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AFPLifestyle-UAE-art-Guggenheim
AFP 081032 GMT 07 06
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