Christo and Jeanne-Claude's Unrealized Mastaba for Abu Dhabi

Conceived in 1977 but never built, The Mastaba project for Abu Dhabi by Christo and Jeanne-Claude remains unrealized. The monumental sculpture, 150 meters high, echoes the ancient Egyptian mastaba tomb. It would have a base of 300 x 225 meters and a top surface of about 28,500 square meters. The site is in Al Gharbia, 160 km south of Abu Dhabi near the Liwa Oasis. A smaller version, The London Mastaba, was installed in Hyde Park's Serpentine Lake for three months. The work would use 410,000 oil barrels, each about 60 cm in diameter and 88 cm long, with colors and placement determined by the artists in 1979. Barrels on top and slopes would be dark orange with a bright yellow stripe; visible barrels on vertical walls would be pink, dark orange, bright yellow, light brown, grass green, ivory white, cobalt blue, vermilion red, and pastel green. In 2007-2008, the artists consulted engineering professors from Zurich, Cambridge, Tokyo, and Urbana-Champaign. The German engineering firm Schlaich Bergermann und Partner analyzed the projects, but the most innovative design came from Hosei University in Tokyo. Barrels would be assembled on the ground, and ten lifting towers would raise the structure in 3-4 days. In 2012, Christo commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers to analyze social and economic benefits. Christo expressed hope to complete the work before his death, and 2019 would mark the tenth anniversary of Jeanne-Claude's death.