The Mastaba (Project for Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) by Christo and Jeanne-Claude

The Mastaba is a large-scale sculpture in the desert of Abu Dhabi, formed by 440,000 multi-colored oil barrels. The primary structure is designed as a directional steel truss framework consisting of a uniform sequence of rhomboid cells, which offers bi-directional load bearing behavior. A 3-layer steel framework was chosen for the sloped sides and two layers for the vertical sides and the top side. The barrels at the outside walls are fixed to a secondary structure which allows maintenance from the inside. The bright coloring of the barrels' lids will create a mosaic pattern on the vertical sides. Since the ten days erection process is part of the performance, a highly advanced erection process has been developed. The goal was to find a solution that does not generate stress results which are higher than in the final state. The Mastaba can only be viewed from the outside, it will be the artists' only permanent large-scale work.