The museum, designed by Chinese architect I. M. Pei, is the largest and most modern art museum in the Middle East, and is open to the public for free. It is reported that I. M. Pei drew inspiration from a baptismal fountain in a 13th-century mosque in Cairo, to create this museum with geometric and mathematical beauty. The museum is constructed with the best and most expensive building materials: limestone from France, granite from America, stainless steel from Germany, and the date palm trees planted on both sides of the walkway are imported from Egypt and Jordan.