The eight wonders of Doha
On the shores of the Persian Gulf stands a city that appears to announce the future. With an architectural landscape that looks like something out of the most sophisticated sci-fi sets, Doha is a young city that has attracted the world’s most prestigious architects. In its spectacular constructions, avant-garde design meets a vast cultural heritage. We take a closer look at these gravity-defying designs that have turned Doha, Iberia’s new destination where you can fly from 34,000 Avios (return trip), into a gigantic showcase of the best contemporary architecture.
This impressive complex of more than 130,000sqm was designed by the architect Jean Nouvel, who won the Pritzker Prize in 2008. He was inspired by desert sand roses – crystallised formations – to shape its 539 concrete panels. The National Museum of Qatar opened in 2019. Its modern galleries contain great treasures from Qatari history, including the original palace of Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani.
Considered the jewel in the crown of Qatar’s museums and located on an artificial island next to the seafront, this was designed by another Pritzker Prize-winning architect, I.M. Pei. Doha’s Museum of Islamic Art is known for its clean geometric forms. Inspired by the sabil – a fountain used for ritual ablutions – in the Ibn Tulun mosque in Cairo, which Pei deemed to be a perfect synthesis of Islamic architecture. Its interior is home to 14 centuries of Islamic art, literature and science.
Qatar’s tallest structure measures 300m in height and symbolises the Olympic flame, which earned it the nickname of the Torch Tower. It was built for the 2006 Asian Games and designed by Hadi Simaan, who created an incredible structure of glass and steel round a huge gas tube. The result was a high-rise that allowed the flame to be seen from any point in Doha, bringing earth and sky together.
Located in Education City as part of the College of Islamic Studies at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, it is the region’s largest. At 35,000sqm, the complex was designed by the Mangera Ivars studio, which focused on trying to express the relationship between religion, knowledge and light. The building is built on five pillars that represent the five pillars of Islam. It has a double minaret adorned with calligraphy by Iraqi architect Taha al-Hiti.
Designed by Rem Koolhaas and opened in 2017, the Qatar National Library is a futuristic structure that was designed to make the most of natural light, thanks to its glazed façade. Inside, a tiered forest of gleaming white shelves is intelligently designed to take advantage of the building’s structure, while making it possible to view the entire space from any point.
With seven exhibition pavilions, the 100,000sqm Qatar National Convention Centre is the largest in the Middle East. It was designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, who conceived the impressive steel structure of its front that replicates the Sidra tree, the national symbol of Qatar and an allegorical refuge for scholars and intellectuals, in line with the country’s commitment to becoming a beacon for education.
The stadium designed by the studio of the late Zaha Hadid – one of the most influential architects of our time – is an impressive multi-purpose stadium created with the characteristic sails of the dhow boats that used to sail the Persian Gulf. Opened in 2019, Al Janoub Stadium was one of the eight venues for the last Football World Cup. It is located in the city of Al Wakrah, just 20 minutes’ drive from Doha’s centre, and has a capacity of 40,000.
Doha Tower (also known as Burj Qatar) is an award-winning, 46-storey, 238m-high tower designed by Jean Nouvel. The main inspiration for this project was Barcelona’s Torre Glòries (formerly known as Torre Agbar) and was designed by the same architect. However, the details of the Doha Tower were specially created to celebrate traditional Islamic culture, as shown by the strips that cover its exterior and give rise to the patterns typical of a mashrabiya window.
This impressive complex of more than 130,000sqm was designed by the architect Jean Nouvel, who won the Pritzker Prize in 2008. He was inspired by desert sand roses – crystallised formations – to shape its 539 concrete panels. The National Museum of Qatar opened in 2019. Its modern galleries contain great treasures from Qatari history, including the original palace of Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani.
