National Museum of Qatar by Ateliers Jean Nouvel wins Wallpaper* Design Award

Ten years in the making, the National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ) by Ateliers Jean Nouvel is intended as an important new display case for the country’s history, archaeology and contemporary culture. The massive structure houses 11 interlinked galleries, with visitors taken on a winding 1.5km route from prehistory through to the present day and beyond.
The new building’s dominant feature is its roof – winner of the Wallpaper* Design Award for Best Roofscape. It is a multifaceted sculpture inspired in part by ‘desert roses’, clusters of interlocking crystals that emerge out of the sand to form striking, bloom-like outcrops. Nouvel describes how the concept was created in 3D from the outset, rather than through his conventional sketch-driven approach. ‘To formalise a rose was very diffcult,’ he says, ‘so the whole project was done in software.’
With its great curved discs, intersections and cantilevered angles, the museum is a totality, at once architectural, spatial and sensory
Once the client, the influential Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, chairperson of Qatar Museums, had approved the design, the task of shaping the immensely complex structure was done in collaboration with engineers Arup in London. The NMoQ’s form comprises some 539 discs, ranging from 14m to 87m across, mirroring what Nouvel calls the ‘miniature architectural events’ of the gypsum crystal formations.
RELATED STORY
‘With its great curved discs, intersections and cantilevered angles, the museum is a totality, at once architectural, spatial and sensory,’ the architect writes. And at 33,618 sq m, it is also substantial. Home to thousands of artefacts and documents, as well as specially commissioned site-specific pieces by artists from Qatar, France, Iraq and Syria, it is set to be the jewel in Doha’s museum district.
The museum is clad with faceted panels of fibre-reinforced concrete, 76,000 in all. These add another layer of geometric complexity to the discs, breaking up their surfaces and bringing a more intimate feel to the clusters of canopies and courtyards they create. Nouvel points out that the ‘contextual approach’ to the building’s design takes centuries of desert living experience and gives it a contemporary twist.
As if to underline the evolution of architectural form, the NMoQ’s spectacular roofscape stands alongside the restored Palace of Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani, once home to Qatar’s royal family and the location of the original National Museum. In Qatar, Ateliers Jean Nouvel has once again gone for scale, perhaps even trumping the mighty dome of the Louvre Abu Dhabi. As presumably intended, the NMoQ simultaneously evokes heritage, place and modernity.
As originally featured in the February 2018 issue of Wallpaper* (W*239)
See more from the Wallpaper* Design Awards here
The building’s roof comprises 539 discs of different sizes and was designed to embrace the restored historic palace that previously housed part of the museum’s collections.
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Ateliers Jean Nouvel website and the National Museum of Qatar website
Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.
-
Volvo EX30 squeezes new materials and world-leading safety into a compact EV
The new Volvo EX30 is the smallest car in Volvo’s range. The full electric SUV provides a compelling mix of forward-thinking interior design with innovative materials and Google technology
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
Jewellery artist Lucy Anderson charts a new path in minimalist wearable art
Lucy Anderson plays with abstract geometrical concepts for simple and elegant jewellery pieces
By Mazzi Odu • Published
-
A beachside home in the Dominican Republic is both private retreat and design destination
Arkina Architectural Design has created a vast beachside home for hire on the shores of the Caribbean, carved from concrete and set within a tropical garden
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
The Museum of Amazonian Science offers global hope and sustainability
An environmentalist’s ambitious project includes the Museum of Amazonian Science in Brazil and fulfils his vision of powering up the local bioeconomy and saving humanity
By Scott Mitchem • Published
-
Sydney Modern opens its doors and reveals immersive SANAA architecture
SANAA’s Sydney Modern opens its doors to the public in Australia
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Refreshed Gainsborough House in Suffolk gears up for reopening
Thomas Gainsborough House in Suffolk reopens to a design by architecture studio ZMMA
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Etruscan Galleries at Fondazione Luigi Rovati by Mario Cucinella just flow
In Milan, the Etruscan Galleries at the Fondazione Luigi Rovati, designed by architect Mario Cucinella, open to the public
By Ellie Stathaki • Last updated
-
Morphosis unveils flowing Orange County Museum of Art
Explore the curved shapes and expressive interiors of the Orange County Museum of Art by Morphosis, now open in California
By Ellie Stathaki • Last updated
-
Buffalo AKG Art Museum by OMA looks to the future
The Buffalo AKG Art Museum (formerly the Albright-Knox Art Gallery) is reborn with a striking OMA-designed extension, site-specific installations, and a new focus on the local community
By Amy Serafin • Last updated
-
The pioneering architecture of Nigerian artist-designer Demas Nwoko
The work of pioneering Nigerian artist-designer Demas Nwoko has stood the test of time; as he is awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Biennale Architettura 2023
By Ijeoma Ndukwe • Last updated
-
Estudio MMX’s Geology Museum on the Yucatán Peninsula is a big hit
Estudio MMX’s new crater-inspired Geology Museum on the Yucatán Peninsula is sure to be a big hit
By Ellie Stathaki • Published