National Museum of Qatar

Designed by Pritzker prize-winning French architect Jean Nouvel, the interlinking disc design of the National Museum of Qatar represents petals that are positioned at different angles and has been inspired by Qatar’s unique ‘desert rose’ made from gypsum deposits in a crystallized form. It evokes and depicts the life of the Qatari people between the desert and the sea. This unique one-of-a-kind museum is will open on 28 March 2018.

The museum’s structure is located on Sheikh Abdullah Bin Jassim Al Thani’s old palace where he once lived and ran the country for 25 years. It is one of most recognisable landmarks in Qatar and serves as a monument to the historical way of life in the country which will be a fitting central exhibit within the museum once it opens.

Even though the museum has not yet opened, it has already won the prestigious ‘Façade Design and Engineering of the Year’ at the ABB LEAF Awards held in London last year and is the first project from the Gulf region to be highlighted in the ‘Best New Architectures of 2018’ listing.

Visitors to the museum will get to learn more about Qatar’s ancestors and the dhows that were once a very important part of the country’s legacy, how the early cities were formed and the transformation of the country that has led up to modern Qatari society. Exhibitions in the museum will merge historical objects with modern influences and signify the impact made by the rapid change in the Qatari lifestyle.