Jean Nouvel design for Louvre Abu Dhabi

French architect Jean Nouvel presented his design for an Abu Dhabi museum, made up of a cluster of low buildings under a dome, to house artworks on loan from France.

Nouvel, the architect of the Quai Branly museum of primitive art in Paris, said his design was inspired by the contrast between the desert and the sea at Saadiyat Island, 500 meters off the Abu Dhabi coast and the planned home for the new museum complex. The design reflects ``unknown cities buried deep into the sands or sunk under water,'' Nouvel said today in a statement.

Under plans announced last year, France will lend the name of the Louvre to the Abu Dhabi museum for 20 years. The proposal has sparked protests, with more than 3,900 people signing a petition against what they call a pawning of French cultural heritage.

The agreement would be a first for French museums, which are exploring new ways to increase revenue while presenting their art treasures to an ever-wider public.

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