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Jean Nouvel's National Museum of Qatar Unveils New Images as It Nears Completion

by Rick Anderson

The National Museum of Qatar has been in the works since 2010 and now, as the cultural hub designed by Ateliers Jean Nouvel is nearing completion, a beautiful array of new images have been released. The French architect’s design for the Doha museum was inspired by the desert rose, a type of crystal formation found in arid, sandy environments, and features an interlocking disk motif. Constructed of steel, glass, and fiber concrete, the 225,000-square-foot complex will boast a 220-seat theater, a research center, laboratories, two shops, two restaurants, and a café. The grounds include a park landscaped with indigenous plants, and there will also be 70-seat forum dedicated to preserving Qatar’s culinary traditions.

The building, which has been under construction since 2010, is months away from its anticipated completion.

Nouvel, who also designed the newly opened Louvre Abu Dhabi , wanted to immerse visitors in the duality of Qatar’s landscape, which includes both the desert and the sea. The nation’s maritime history will be showcased, and the institution is particularly interested in preserving and re-creating the dhows that once sailed the Persian Gulf for trade, pearls, and fishing. Historic objects will be on display within exhibits about the country’s ancestors, early cities, and modern society.

The exterior of Nouvel's design looks like no other building in the world.

The museum is a celebration of Qatar’s heritage—as well as its future—and was built around Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani’s original palace, which once served as the seat of government and later as the home of the previous National Museum of Qatar. The palace has been restored and will be one of the central exhibits when the new museum opens. In June 2017, Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa, chairperson of Qatar Museums, announced a target opening date of December 2018.

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