CITY - Issue 61 - (Page 76)

QA AR'S T CROWN JEWEL L ike petroleum, museums are a hot commodity in the rabian Gulf. Just last yea bu Dhabi announced it will c eate a satellite Louv e fo a cool one billion, in addition to hi ing F ank Geh y to design a , -squa e foot, million Guggenheim. This past p il, Dubai launched the . billion Kho Dubai Cultu al Dist ict, which will host ove museums, including one dedicated to the p ophet Mohammed — the Messenge Mohammed Museum — and a ‘Unive sal Museum’ which, acco ding to the city’s Cultu e and ts utho ity, “aims to consolidate the wo ld’s t easu es into accessible and comp ehensive collections that illust ate the wo ld’s collective cultu al wealth in the spi it of a wo ld community.” Such b oad concepts fo a t collections fell on deaf ea s when it came time fo oil- ich ata to c eate thei ﬁ st museum — the Museum of Islamic t. Designed by Chinese- me ican a chitect I.M. Pei, the oughly , -squa e-foot, c eam-colo ed stone Chameson limestone building d aws inspi ation f om the th centu y sabil (ablutions fountain) in one of the oldest mosques in Cai o, the Mosque of hmad ibn Tulun, while infusing a geomet ic minimalism that is accentuated by vi tue of being situated on its ve y own manmade island jutting oﬀ capital Doha’s co niche. When the ibbons a e cut this Novembe , a e nea ly fou yea s of const uction, the estimated . billion dolla museum will be instantly classiﬁed as one of the egion’s ﬁ st post-oil cultu al institutions. “It took yea s fo cities in the egion to ealize that cultu e is a p e equisite fo tou ism,” said This rich oil nation hopes a new museum designed by I.M. Pei will help Doha become a well-respected, art-focused city By Marisa Mazria-Katz “Bottom line is we are planning museums from the outside in, rather than the inside out, which is a radically different idea. And we have a chance in Qatar because there are no museums here.” Geo ge Katod ytis, p ofesso of chitectu e and Design at the me ican Unive sity of Sha jah, a small emi ate in the nea by United ab Emi ates. “The Bilbao eﬀect is sp eading to the Middle East ve y fast.” So the sto y goes, soon a e opening the F ank Geh y-designed Guggenheim in Bilbao, the city was eﬀectively ecognized as a home to one of the wo ld’s leading a t institutions. It wasn’t long befo e millions of tou ists we e making thei way annually to the little known Spanish town. Indeed, it would seem any eme ging city would be wise to follow the t acks of Bilbao. ata i’s a e hedging thei bets that Pei’s a chitectu al feat is no less stunning than Geh y’s. nd in a city whe e half of the buildings a e in the p ocess of, well, being built, the ﬁve-ﬂoo , stone-clad museum is ce tainly a esting. Pei’s insistence on c eating a pa k on the land su ounding the building helps ensu e it will always emain an iconic and unobst ucted ﬁ xtu e of Doha’s mush ooming skyline. The museum’s main building is cente ed a ound a -foot high at ium, which is bathed in light eﬂecting oﬀ a cascading ﬂoo -to-ceiling window with views of the bay. In addition to the two ﬂoo s of pe manent exhibition galle ies and a tempo a y main galle y, the museum has a -seat auditoium, ﬁve-sta estau ant, lib a y, and a conse vation lab. The c own jewel, ha bo ed in the at ium’s ceiling, is a stainless steel, ci cula apex that manipulates the light st eaming in so that it beams o namental eﬂections. Flushed with pet o-dolla s, the leade of ata , Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa l Thani, could in

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CITY - Issue 61

CITY - Issue 61 Contents Our Friends Action Wanted City Moment Luscious Life Fast Food Inrogue Temporary Contemporary Diary Savania Davies-Keller & Roberto Crivello Pamela Love Sung-Joo Kim Jerome Berard Destination Dealerships Overly Opulent Inside Out Like a Clock in the Heart Qatar’s Crown Jewel BLING Urge to Splurge Just a Splash Luxe Life Solitaire Equus Where to Buy It Cityscape

CITY - Issue 61

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