Location: Doha, Qatar.

Architect: Jean Nouvel.

The National Museum of Qatar is a twentieth-century landmark dedicated to the history of Qatar. It evokes the desert, its silence and eternal dimension, but also the spirit of modernity and daring that have come along and shaken up what seemed unshakeable. This is the context for the newly-comissioned museum expansion that was completed in 2019. The building complex reflects three different stories: the story of the peninsula and its inhabitants, an exploration of coastal and desert lifestyles, and the spectacular acceleration that gave the kingdom its power and prosperity. The Desert Rose Museum that completes this story is a 350-metre-long building constructed with inward-curving disks, intersections and cantilevered elements.

It is at the cutting-edge of technology and provides an experience that’s architectural, spatial and sensory all at once. The museum occupies a vast area and creates contrasts between the form and the scale, between the theme and the different eras dealt with. The idea was to create contrasts and spring surprises, such as going from one room closed-off by a slanting disk to another room with a much lower intersection. The Howsh is a central courtyard surrounded by buildings where travellers would come and unload their merchandise. It is connected to the outdoor spaces of the old palace and is made of high-performance glass fibre-reinforced concrete. The new museum offers permanent and temporary exhibition’s galleries, a 213-seat auditorium, 2 restoration/conservation laboratories, administrative offices, food service areas (2 cafes, 1 panoramic restaurant), school group facilities and VIP facilities, a public park and parking.

The museography is designed to evoke the scale and power of the land and history of Qatar, from time immemorial to the present moment. The films are sensitive testaments to past eras, made specifically for the museum and formatted to fit the shape and scale of the walls.