Having completed the Louvre Abu Dhabi museum in 2017, renowned
Pritzker Prize-winning French architect Jean Nouvel has become
the go-to talent for creating modern Arabic architectural wonders.
His latest masterpiece, the National Museum of Qatar, which opened
in Doha this spring, is a dazzling composition of circular forms. Its
unique structure was inspired by desert roses – natural flower-
shaped formations of sand and minerals that occur in dry arid
conditions. ‘It’s an architecture created by time and the desert
itself,’ says Nouvel of the beautiful natural phenomenon. The 539
sandy-hued interlocking discs that make up his homage are clad
in glass-fibre reinforced concrete, forming spaces of shade from
the intense sun. Concealed within the heart of this modern space
is the century-old palace once inhabited by the late Sheikh Abdullah
bin Jassim Al Thani – the seat of government for 25 years – as well
as Arabic and Persian artworks and artefacts (qm.org.qa). ➤NATIONAL MUSEUM OF QATAR, Jean Nouvel
AUGUST 2019 ELLEDECORATION.CO.UK 43TRENDSWO R D S: J A M ES W I L L I A M S P I C T U R ES: D R O R B A L D I N G ER/CO U RT ESY O F RUBY CITY AND ADJAYE ASSOCIATES, IWAN BAAN, DANICA O KUS