On the occasion of 18th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, Qatar Creates opened the documentary exhibition Building a Creative Nation, the first presentation outside the country of Qatar's next generation of cultural institutions.
Hosted at ACP – Palazzo Franchetti, the exhibition will be on view through 26 November 2023.
Building a Creative Nation, designed by 2 x 4, focuses on five new cultural venues being developed by Qatar Museums in Qatar with internationally acclaimed architectural practices ELEMENTAL, Herzog & de Meuron, Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), Philippe Starck, and UNStudio. The new developments all will be operated by Qatar Museums which is responsible for preserving and enlarging Qatar's cultural endowment by overseeing the country's growing network of museums, heritage sites, festivals, public art program, and more.
The exhibition brings together renderings, photographs, sketches, studies, models, video, as well as immersive content, to present each project as a considered architectural response to an aspect of Qatar Museums' program of cultural nation-building. Whether new construction or adaptive reuse, each future institution demonstrates Qatar’s commitment to architecture as a strategic tool for achieving the country’s forward-looking cultural objectives, outlined in the Qatar National Vision 2030, chiefly its goal to grow an innovative and diversified society through investment in the creative industries.
Projects featured in Building a Creative Nation are:
Art Mill Museum by Elemental, led by Alejandro Aravena
Art Mill Museum conceptual design: aerial view of the museum in the Cultural District (Doha, Qatar), 2022. Rendering ©Qatar Museums
Lusail Museum by Herzog & de Meuron
Lusail Museum: exterior view. Rendering ©Qatar Museums
Qatar Auto Museum by OMA - Office for Metropolitan Architecture, led by Rem Koolhaas and Samir Bantal
Concept design of Qatar Auto Museum project. Rendering ©Qatar Museums
Qatar Preparatory School by Philippe Starck (architectural concept)
Qatar Preparatory School architectural concept © Qatar Museums. Image credit: PHS / DEIS
Dadu, Children’s Museum of Qatar by UNStudio
Dadu, Children’s Museum of Qatar conceptual design: exterior view. Rendering ©Qatar Museums
These new developments build on the legacy of Qatar’s continuing investment in the world-class museums and cultural spaces that have opened in the country over the last 15 years. They include: MIA | Museum of Islamic Art, architect: I. M. Pei (2008); Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, architect: François Bodin (2010); Fire Station, architect: Ibrahim Al Jaidah (2015); Qatar National Library, architect: OMA (2017); NMoQ | National Museum of Qatar, architect: Jean Nouvel (2019); M7 Cultural Forum, architect: John McAslan + Partners (2021); and 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum, architect: Joan Sibina (2022).
Other notable architectural commissions in Qatar in recent years have included Al Janoub Stadium & Precinct by Zaha Hadid Architects, Lusail Stadium by Foster + Partners, the Qatar National Convention Centre by Arata Isozaki + Associates, and the Education City Student Center and buildings for three international university programs by Legorreta + Legorreta.
As part of its commitment to furthering international dialogue through architecture and as main sponsor, Qatar has provided support for Onomatopoeia Architecture, a special exhibition of the work of the celebrated Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, presented simultaneously with Building a Creative Nation at ACP-Palazzo Franchetti.
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Press release and renderings courtesy of Qatar Creates
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