Orientation

The flow of the building has been designed around digitally and kinetically staged experiences, which are arranged in sequences throughout the building. Grabbing the visitor’s attention in between the various experiences has been at the core of the chosen wayfinding strategy. The main challenge was the large lobby with its multiple entrances and exits. This was solved by analyzing the visitor journey and placing wayfinding elements where visitors need them the most.

Navigation

Dubai is a highly international destination and a meeting place for many nationalities. Residents, as well as more than a million visitors from abroad, have to understand and follow the guiding instructions. The dual language approach and a bespoke set of pictograms for this culturally diverse audience were developed, tested, and applied.

Experience

Cultural spaces serve as canvases, providing perfect surroundings and experiences for their purpose. The museum of the future is the very opposite with its outspoken, graphical, and expressive character. This created the need for a calm but present expression to act as guidance through the building, which resulted in the ‘calm clouds’ concept. Only there when you need it, transparent and soft in its appearance, but highly functional.

Result

The outcome is a world-class wayfinding system that embraces the cultural surroundings through its soft and transparent manner, in contrast to the highly expressive nature of the architecture. Based on a concept strongly rooted in Dubai, the system’s creative direction is inspired by the city’s landscape: its beautiful sundowns and morning mist.

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