The-Artery and Makers District @ Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi-based real estate developer IMKAN announces at Cityscape in Abu Dhabi its big project, The Artery and the Maker District, an 18 hectare mixed-use development on Reem Island designed to be the new heart of Abu Dhabi.
It will be the new waterfront community being designed specifically to cultivate creativity through residential, hospitality commercial and retail spaces.
IMKAN believes that to establish a world-class maker’s space would require a truly global approach and to realise its vision designed a competition like no other, bringing the best architectural firms from all over the world to collaborate with a single mission: create the space of the future!
BIG, MVRDV, 10 Design and N Studio (Hong Kong, Copenaghen, New York, Rotterdam and London). The biggest name were tasked with crating a home for the makers: The-Artery.
The—Artery is a space for art. Designed from the ground up to evoke pure artistic ability and stunning aesthetics, the building will showcase content created by the world’s finest artists, classical and contemporary. The—Artery is not just an exhibition hall for works of art, but is art in itself, a fluid, living, changing space.
As the new heart of Abu Dhabi, Makers District is strategically positioned between Saadiyat Island—the hub of Emirati heritage and culture, and Reem Island—the scenic waterfront development. This creates a dynamic and multi-layered experience which draws from its surrounding, both geographically and culturally.
Makers District is an area, which offers contemporary living in a key cultural position with a waterfront connection. It promotes Arab culture and tradition; it is a place where education and inspiration is cultivated, it is a place where creativity lives.
Meet the Architects:
BIG is a group of architects, designers & thinkers operating within the fields of architecture, urbanism, research and development with over 400 employees in offices in Copenhagen, New York City and London. BIG has created a reputation for completing buildings that are as programmatically and technically innovative as they are cost and resource conscious.
MVRDV was founded in 1993 by Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The practice engages globally in providing solutions to contemporary architectural and urban issues. A highly collaborative, research-based design method involves clients, stakeholders and experts from a wide range of fields in the creative process.
10 Design is a leading International partnership of Architects, Urbanists, Landscape, and CGI Specialists. It is a new dynamic design studio founded in 2010, already winner of 30+ international awards and design competitions since inception. It employs 140 architects and designers combining the creative cultures of 25 nationalities. world including Europe, Middle Working in 50 cities across theworld including Europe, Middle East, Asia, and South America.
N Studio’s industry leading creative designers have 20 years of international experience in architecture and interior design. This skilled and innovative studio is made up of a collection of specialists from around the globe, whose diverse backgrounds and unique approach to design and architecture has defined bold new strategies within local contexts internationally.
The first IMKAN’s vision of The—Artery was realized by BIG, whose design turned the building inside out with a façade that will pull passers-by in, and an ingenious double helix that will provide both integration and separation between the building’s flexible and hybrid use as a parking garage, Makers space and exhibition venue. The building will be alive, a ‘beating heart’, a true manifestation of The—Artery’s ‘creative pulse’.
Construction on The-Artery is anticipated to start later in 2017. Makers District is scheduled to be operational by 2020.