Dubai to Build Floating Opera House

The Azizi Venice project, which centers around a man-made crystal lagoon, will build the 2,000-seat opera house with a floating stage

Dubai's Azizi Venice project, which is funded by Crystal Lagoons and Azizi Developments, has announced plans to build a floating opera house within the precinct. Azizi Venice is a 366-acre development that places luxury housing around a man-made lagoon — and the new opera house will be constructed on the water.

The opera house will have a golden floating stage surrounded by fountains "immersed" in the Crystal Venice lagoon. The 2,000-seat theater will host opera performances, as well as ballet, concerts, musical theater, and comedy. It will also be available as an events space.

The opera house will be just one of the many amenities available in the Azizi Venice precinct, which also boasts swimming pools, playgrounds, a 5-star hotel, a private clinic, schools, gyms, spas, restaurants, a cable car, shops, jogging and cycling tracks, boulevards, and piers.

It is estimated that the project will cost 30 billion dirham (approximately 8.17 billion USD) and it plans to be completed between 2025 and 2028.

Floating stages have sometimes been used at opera houses elsewhere in the world, particularly in Sydney (in the city's harbor) and at Austria's Bregenz Festival on Lake Constance.