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To replicate the success of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) hired the California design group Gensler, as well as the architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and lined up the Louvre in Paris. Then they approached Thomas Krens, director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Krens was not impressed with the Gensler master plan, but he ultimately decided to help Abu Dhabi expand its ambitions. Krens spoke with Newsweek about the plans for a cultural district, which will include a modern and contemporary art museum, a classic art museum, a national museum, a maritime museum, a performing arts center and a biennale pavilion.

Read full article (Newsweek International, August 6, 2007)