the architecture of qatar · 2019-07-15 · the architecture of qatar museum of islamic art the...

The Architecture of Qatar

OverviewQatar’s rapid economic growth and emergence as a global city has resulted in a surge in the construction of aesthetically superior buildings designed by renowned domestic and foreign architects:

• Qatar houses buildings designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects, such as Rem Koolhaas, I.M. Pei, Arata Isozaki and Jean Nouvel.

• Qatar is home to numerous award-winning buildings including those of the six acclaimed American university branch campuses in Education City designed by internationally renowned architects.

The construction of modern iconic buildings was accomplished with an eye to balancing the identity and heritage of Qatar with the functional, climatic and sustainable demands of large-scale buildings.

The focus on the preservation of identity infused with modern architectural styles has resulted in the emergence of a distinct Arab architectural style in Qatar.

Architecture in Qatar

Qatar has become a regional and international hub for the arts via the proliferation of art related projects or implementation of public policies that nurture the arts. This multilayered approach can be seen with Year of Culture initiative, its human development objectives, which includes education and culture within Qatar National Vision 2030, with Education City, and cultural village of Katara. This approach has augmented and boosted the country’s attraction and reliability as a destination and incubator for/of the arts.

In 2019, Rem Koolhaas, during a panel discussion held at QNL, “Architecture as Face of a Nation,” lauded Qatar’s architecture by stating the following:

“Doha as a center of architecture has some of the most striking buildings in the world. As of now, I cannot recollect any other place with such distinct architectural display of elegant buildings. Doha has an amazing number of beautiful buildings.”

“Over the last four decades, [Doha] — which began as a fishing and pearl-diving settlement — has transformed into a gleaming vision of the future… It’s as if Qatar consulted the list of winners of the Pritzker Architecture Prize and invited them all to town.”

- From Sebastian Modak’s article, “What’s New in Doha? Basically Everything”, published in the New York Times.

qataramerica.org@QatarAmerica


Msheireb: Sustainable Architecture in Qatar

In accordance with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, Qatar has codified sustainability as one of the four pillars of Qatar National Vision 2030 and has since become a global leader in sustainable technology and design.

Msheireb district, located in downtown Doha, is a concrete example of Qatar’s commitment to sustainable development initiatives: it is the world’s first sustainable downtown development project as it aims to reduce energy usage in the area by 32%, with all buildings targeting LEED Gold if not Platinum certification. Much of the neighborhood will be powered through solar panels. Msheireb streets are oriented and shaded to capture wind from the sea and naturally cool streets and buildings.

Prominent Buildings

National Museum of Qatar

The National Museum of Qatar is the latest building designed by Ateliers Jean Nouvel, a Pritzker Prize winner architectural firm. The museum was inaugurated in March 2019. During the inauguration, Jean Nouvel stated the following about the museum: “It aims to be a destination for people from around the world that reflects the contemporary spirit of Qatar.”.

The structure of the museum is composed by a series of colliding discs, which form the external shell and define the internal features as well. The building’s unique shape is inspired by the desert rose: a mineral formation created when minerals crystallize below the surface of a salt basin into an array of flat plates resembling rose petal. The architect, Jean Nouvel, explained that the radical form of the building seeks to express Qatar’s progressive cultural outlook and technological capabilities, which have contributed to its recent expansion and growth.

The building’s plan forms an elliptical circuit that leads visitors through a sequence of galleries occupying the irregular spaces between the interlocking geometric planes. The galleries surround a central courtyard that references the traditional Baraha where travelers would unload their merchandise.

The museum’s visitor route extends around one-mile and chronologically narrates the history of Qatar. Here, the architecture studio collaborated with the museum’s curators to develop a museography: the internal planes are used to project movies. The projections were produced and formatted in collaboration with the Doha Film Institute. “The idea was to introduce a dialogue between art and information,” Nouvel said. “A lot of Qatar’s history is un-documented, so we used movies and models to help communicate how life here has changed.”



Museum of Islamic Art

The Museum of Islamic Art was designed by I.M. Pei, a Pritzker Prize winner architect, in 2008. The museum covers 377,000 square feet and is located in Doha Bay in the Arabian Gulf. The building reflects the full vitality, complexity, and diversity of the Islamic world: it collects, preserves, and exhibits masterpieces spanning three continents from the 7th century to the 19th century. The Museum of Islamic Art has become a new international center for learning and creativity that advances the cultural vision of the State of Qatar.

To realize the design of the building, I.M. Pei went on a journey to discover and understand the diversity of Islamic architecture. The architect visited the Grand Mosque in Cordoba, Spain; Fatehpur Sikri, a Mughal capital in India; the Umayyad Great Mosque in Damascus, Syria; and the ribat fortresses at Monastir and Sousse in Tunisia. I.M. Pei’s principal design inspiration came from the 13th century sabil of the Mosque of Ahmad Ibn Tulun in Cairo, Egypt. For I.M. Pei, the sabil offered a cubist expression of the geometric progression, which evoked an abstract vision of key design elements of Islamic architecture.

The materials used to build the museum include limestone, granite, stainless steel and architectural concrete. As a whole, the main section of the building is five stories high, while, the Education Wing is 2 stories high. These two sections are connected via a central courtyard. The main building’s angular volumes recede as they rise around a 164-foot high domed atrium, which is concealed by the exterior walls of the central tower. At the top of the atrium, there’s an oculus to increase light exposure to highlight the patters within the faceted dome. The oculus was placed to take advantage of the natural light from the desert’s sun: it transforms the architecture into a play of light and shadows.

Museum of Islamic Art Chairperson, Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, affirmed the following about the museum:

“The opening of the Museum of Islamic Art is a source of immense pride for the State of Qatar. In future years, the new museum will evolve into a place of learning and a platform for dialogue. It will bring together people of all ages, people living in the local community and visitors from around the world for enjoyment, stimulation and greater understanding of our cultures through the appreciation of art...”



Hamad International Airport

Hamad International Airport is a young airport, with construction having only begun in 2006 to replace the former Doha International Airport.

The project was highly ambitious, with 60% of the site on land reclaimed from the Arabian Gulf. The first two phases of its construction were opened in 2014; its final phase is underway now, which will grow its capacity from 30 million passengers per year to 50 million per year.

The scope of the mission is as staggering as it is necessary, as the number of travelers passing through Qatar has ballooned from 5 million per year ten years ago to 25 million per year today. This will even further boost Qatar’s status as a major gateway between Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and facilitate the inflow of tourists for the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Al Wakrah Stadium

Al Wakrah Stadium was designed by Pritzker Prize winner Zaha Hadid Architects, and it was inaugurated on May 16th, 2019, for Qatar’s premier soccer event, the Amir Cup 2019 final. The stadium is one of the eight designated venues for the 2022 World Cup.

The newly constructed arena holds a capacity of 40,000 seats, boasts a fully retractable roof, and features innovative internal cooling technology for the benefit of supporters and athletes.

The stadium design is striking and uniquely Qatari, with its overall shape reflecting the hulls of a dhow. A dhow is a marine vessel historically used for fishing and pearl diving expeditions. The image of the hulls of a dhow are expressed via the details, selected materiality and the roof’s beam structure. For instance, the multiple shades of white, the pleated façade and the external cladding all complement the geometrical shape of the dhow.

Jim Heverin, director at Zaha Hadid Architects, commented the following on the realization of the stadium: “We didn’t want to literally blow up a dhow boat so we looked at abstracting it in order to create something dynamic and organic – something that has multiple interpretations.”



Qatar National Library

In April 2018, Dutch architecture firm OMA completed the Qatar National Library (QNL) building in Doha. The building was designed by Rem Koolhaas, an acclaimed Pritzker Prize winner architect.

Other than being the national library, QNL houses a public library, university library, and heritage collection. The latter consists of valuable texts and manuscripts depicting Arab-Islamic civilization. The public library contains over a million books and occupies an area of 45,000 square feet. The National Library is part of Education City, a sprawling academic campus that hosts fully-degree granting branches of several leading international universities.

The configuration of spaces and the topography of the internal shelving were designed to facilitate accessibility for visitors to the building’s center and to balance all the interspersed spaces for reading, socializing and browsing.

“The opening of the QNL building is a landmark achievement for the cultural and education landscape in Qatar. QNL is a place where everybody can learn, collaborate, and create,” stated Dr. Sohair F. Wastawy, Executive Director of QNL.

Most importantly, Dr. Wastawy further acclaimed the completion of QNL with the following: “With the Heritage Library at its heart and innovative technology throughout, the QNL building is truly a bridge between Qatar’s past and its future”.

Aspire Tower

Aspire Tower, located in Sports City, was designed by Orlando-based firm, Hadi Simaan Architects. Aspire Tower was built to house the symbolic flame of the 2006 Asian Games.

The design of the tower symbolizes a hand grasping a torch, which sits on its cusp. The tower houses a five-star hotel, a sports museum, a health club with a swimming pool, a revolving restaurant, and an observation deck.

The structural design features a concrete core enveloped in steel web. The façade consists of energy-efficient glass skin, which helps to maintain internal mild temperature.



Doha Tower

Doha Tower is a concrete and steel building that was completed in 2012. The building was designed by Ateliers Jean Nouvel. The tower comprises 46 floors above ground, 3 floors below ground, and a total of floor area of approximately 1,200,000 square feet.

The massive, rounded cylindrical skyscraper is an expression of the domestic culture reflecting the very modern with ancient Islamic designs: the layered façade recalls the traditional Mashrabiya, an artistic screen used for shading and room dividing. These linear and geometric patterns were employed on a massive scale to fracture the light within every interior volume.

The screens retain their Islamic original purpose to shade the building from high temperatures and protect it from sand residue found on glass, which is common for the region. The design is also the first to successfully employ diagrid reinforced concrete over the entirety of the building skin.

Tornado Tower

Tornado Tower was completed in 2008 and was designed by CICO Consulting Architects & Engineers (Qatar) and SIAT- Architekten + Ingeniuere (Germany). The building’s hyperboloid shape depicts a whirlwind in a desert storm and its distinctive form offers a 360 panoramic view.

Norwegian based company WICONA provided more than 6,000 unitized glazed panels in 50 size variations (a different panel size for each floor) to create the curvature of the building. The trapezoidal units, which were assembled and glazed offsite, hold a reflective glass and opaque glazing to conceal the building’s internal structure between floors. The panels also support the external steel structure - a key architectural feature - which is complemented by a complex of external lighting system designed by and programmed with 35,000 different light displays.

Tornado Tower is 656 feet high, has an office space of 62,000 square feet of leasable area; and features a helipad on the 51st floor, a gymnasium, restaurants and cafes, and retail outlets.

In 2009, Tornado Tower was awarded the accolades for Best Tall Building in the Middle East and Africa by the U.S.-based Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), the world’s leading authority on design, construction and development of tall buildings.

Education City

Education City, a multidisciplinary academic campus, was developed by Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development in 1997. The campus was designed initially by Arata Isozaki, a Pritzker Prize winner Japanese architect.



Over the years, Education City has expanded from 4.6 square miles to 5.4 square miles as it increased its academic affiliations.

The campus is well known for housing multiple educational and research institutes, such as Georgetown University, Northwestern University, Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts, Weill Cornell Medical College, Texas A&M, Carnegie Mellon, which were all built by renowned world class architects, including Eduardo Legoretta, OMA, Antoine Predock, Mangera Yvars and Woods Bagot.

Tasmeem Doha Art and Design ConferenceTasmeem Doha is an international biennial art and design conference hosted and organized by Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar), which is located in Education City. The biennial conference began in 2004.

The theme for Tasmeem Doha 2019, which occurred in March, was Hekayat, the Arabic word for stories. Tasmeem Doha features workshops, exhibitions and prominent speakers from all over the world.

Some prominent speakers that have previously attended include major artists and designers, such as architect Rem Koolhaas, design company IDEO partner Tom Kelley, filmmaker and YouTube personality Casey Neistat, and Qatari-American writer Sophia Al-Maria.

Prominent Qatari ArchitectsIbrahim Jaidah

Ibrahim M. Jaidah has won numerous awards such as Islamic Cities award, Arab Town Organization Awards, State Encouragement Award, and has been nominated for Agha Khan Award 3 times. He has been recognized as the new pioneer for architecture in the region, focusing on vernacular architecture and emphasizing cultural identity while embracing the modern.

The architect established Ibrahim Jaidah Architects and Engineers (IJAE), which is based in Oman and is a subsidiary of Arab Engineering Bureau- a top leading and award-winning design consultancy firm founded in 1966.


the architecture of qatar · 2019-07-15 · the architecture of qatar museum of islamic art the...

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