MUSEUM

qatar’s museum of islamic art
the house of treasures

The Museum of Islamic Art is the flagship project of the Qatar Museums Authority, under its chairperson HE Sheikha Al-Mayassa Bint Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, and the latest - and, to date, most spectacular - of the milestones in Qatar's quest to establish itself generally as a 'global capital of culture'. A network of several museums is planned for the emirate as part of this objective, and should be seen within the context of intense activity throughout the Gulf to develop cultural institutions that will serve not only to enhance the region's attractiveness to visitors, but also to develop a worldclass arts and culture infrastructure for the benefit of local residents. The new facilities will include the Qatar National Museum, which will be devoted to 'the culture, archaeology, sociology, geology and wildlife' of the country and is being designed by Jean Nouvel, architect of Paris's Institut du Monde Arabe and winner of the 2008 Pritzker Prize for Architecture.

Against this wider backdrop, much attention has naturally been devoted to the discussion over the Museum of Islamic Art's striking design, the work of I M Pei, the Chineseborn and Pritzker Prize-winning architect who was responsible for the celebrated glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris. Now 91 years old, Pei was coaxed out of retirement to design the museum, despite not having been part of the initial competition that was held to select its architect. That process was fraught with controversy and plagued by delay; doubters wondered whether the museum would ever be built, but today a truly remarkable building stands as testament to the foresight and persistence of all those involved.

Pei's stunning design has been constructed on an island of reclaimed land, surrounded by water and connected to the mainland by a ramp causeway lined with date palms. Monumental in scale and impact, with imposing geometric forms and clad in pale Chameson limestone from France, the museum is undoubtedly one of the most commanding and attractive new buildings yet constructed in the Middle East, and evidence that well-conceived...