fig 1: Project through construction phase – Source: Louvre Abu Dhabi

A FLOATING DOME OF LIGHT AND SHADE

The centerpiece of Nouvel’s vision is a huge silvery dome that appears to float above the entire museum-city.

‘Despite its apparent weightlessness, the dome, in fact, weighs approximately 7,500 tonnes (the same as Eiffel Tower in Paris). Inspired by the cupola, a distinctive feature in Arabic architecture, Nouvel’s dome is a complex, geometric structure of 7,850 stars, repeated at various sizes and angles in different layers. ‘ – Official Louvre’s website

As the sun passes above, its light filters through the perforations in the dome to create an inspiring effect within the museum, known as the ‘rain of light’.

fig 2: Different densities of the dome – Source: Author

Pseudo Code

_Step 1 – Creating the outer Skin:
*Create 2 curves, then create a surface
*Draw geometry that needs to be applied to the dome
*Apply it to the dome
*Subtract a cylinder from the dome to create the desired shape
*Create 2 or 3 domes with different densities

_Step 2 – Creating the truss:
*Overlay curves on a radial grid pattern
*Control distance between each geometry and how many axes [Deciding the complexity] *Extrude the geometry in order to create the shape of the truss
*Subtract it from the geometry of the dome

_Step 3 – Overlaying geometries:
*Bake each step and overlay the geometries

fig 3: 3 Variations of the dome – Source: Author

fig 4: Internal space under the dome, game of light and shadows – Source: Louvre Abu Dhabi