National Museum of Qatar / Jean Nouvel

By Karen Cilento — Filed under: Museums and Libraries ,News , ,
 

, Artefactory, © Ateliers

Jean Nouvel‘s new National Museum of Qatar utilizes technology to create a thoroughly new institution.  Entire walls become cinematic displays and hand-held mobile devices guide visitors through the thematic displays of the collections.  Located on a 1.5 million-square-foot site at the south end of Doha’s Corniche, it will be the first monument travelers arriving from the airport will set their eyes upon.  Conceived as growing out of the ground, the building uses rings of low-lying, interlocking pavilions, to encircle a large courtyard area and encompass 430,000 square feet of indoor space.  Tilting, interpenetrating disks define the pavilions’ floors, walls and roofs,  and the exterior in a sand-colored concrete.  Nouvel likens it to a “bladelike petal of the desert rose, a mineral formation of crystallized sand found in the briny layer just beneath the desert’s surface.”

More images after the break.

, Artefactory, © Ateliers

, Artefactory, © Ateliers

, Artefactory, © Ateliers

, Artefactory, © Ateliers

, Artefactory, © Ateliers

, Artefactory, © Ateliers

, Artefactory, © Ateliers

As seen on Abitare.

 
 
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Absolutely LOVE this. Awesome.

 
# March 31, 2010 at 09:48
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I’m not convinced.

This project has solid conceptual grounding but at the moment it’s simply a few Maxwell renders.

More info please.

 
# March 31, 2010 at 09:54
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    Stiggero says:

    It’s V-ray if you want to be precise. They used the standard Vray sky, that’s how this can be seen.

    Not very professional.

     
    # March 31, 2010 at 14:58
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      POWKEY says:

      standard v-ray sky!!!!! OH NO… how dare they.

       
      # April 1, 2010 at 14:48
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paulys says:

Attractive approach, but give us some truth before we start drooling over this thing please !

 
# March 31, 2010 at 11:01
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hinoday says:

terible!

 
# March 31, 2010 at 11:16
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htx75qr8 says:

Need some salt to go with these chips

 
# March 31, 2010 at 11:22
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    bam says:

    haha but

    It’s not conceptual model….

     
    # March 31, 2010 at 12:57
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rodrigo bocater says:

here´s a teaser of the movie….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuPHp6qiufA

i´ve seen this before…
a bunch of plates thrown on the ground…

 
# March 31, 2010 at 11:27
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Hunter says:

Did an intern design this that is currently in their first year of undergraduate?

 
# March 31, 2010 at 11:45
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BP says:

It seems like a very one dimensional concept, something reminiscent of basic concept development exercises for first and second year students, as Hunter stated. Planes create the floors, roof, walls, and they move.

Honestly it resembles ten flying saucers that crashed at the same point.

 
# March 31, 2010 at 12:45
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Leonardo Ximenes says:

@ Hunter, BP:
There seems to be a tendency in bashing any design with bolder plastic intentions these days. Whereas this can be positive in a world overwhelmed of Gehrys and Hadids and Libeskinds, we should be more sensitive and recognize a truly original work. The ability involved in divising habitable inner spaces using the same recurring shape is truly remarkable, a feat of abstraction ability! Few of us (probably none of us writing critics in this page) have such an amazing brain. For this alone this project is already remearkable.

 
# March 31, 2010 at 12:58
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    yeah says:

    There is one problem with your theory – there are NO plans or sections here so you CAN’T tell if the spaces are habitable or functional.

    SO at the moment this project is exactly a bunch of shapes ONLY, which doesn’t need too much brainpower to create and could be completed by the said ‘undergraduate intern’.

    You have just IMAGINED these habitable spaces – they are NOT here – admit this to yourself and move on.

     
    # April 1, 2010 at 03:45
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      powkey says:

      These are renderings of a BIM model, not some thrown together conceptual work. There are spaces in there, and they work.

       
      # April 1, 2010 at 14:54
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      yeah says:

      @powkey

      …and you say this based on…your belief in Nouvel…as I understand. Because AGAIN there are NO plans or sections here.

      ALSO the wireframe doesn’t look like a BIM model – you can see just the conceptual saucers, NOTHING inside.

       
      # April 2, 2010 at 04:26
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Joshua says:

Lily pad Lissitzky!

 
# March 31, 2010 at 14:55
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citicritter says:

Doesn’t seem up to the finesse of Nouvels’ recent work, more like a dropped stack of dinner plates.

 
# March 31, 2010 at 16:49
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rouan says:

And they propose doing the roof how exactly? Various ways I suppose but how will they make it not look terrible? Something without a profile I suppose but even then….the white render makes it look more flattering than it will be in real life.

 
# March 31, 2010 at 17:25
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Cameron says:

Acknowledge goodness as this is good!

 
# March 31, 2010 at 20:56
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Vinay says:

juggling of the saucer plates seems to be good

 
# April 1, 2010 at 03:11
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Małgorzata says:

Waste of concrete!

 
# April 1, 2010 at 07:21
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s says:

Looks like an architectural joke.
I agree with the suggestion that it was made by an intern first year student.

 
# April 1, 2010 at 08:03
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Bianchini says:

Not good at all!
Cant see Jean Nouvel doing such a thing like this!

 
# April 1, 2010 at 10:14
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aussireg says:

Very beautiful project. Nouvel will deliver.
Will be an absolutely stunning building to experience.
Technically difficult to build, but the Emirates can handle this.
Quality of building excellent there.

 
# April 1, 2010 at 12:42
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isla says:

the 2000´s jean nouvel is going wroooong, this could be donde by absolutelly any architecture student, eaven not an architect at all…

saaaad

btw, there are some ruins arround, what about the context?

saaad again

 
# April 1, 2010 at 16:43
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corto says:

I think this is a solid concept. Since it is Jean Nouvel, before saying something let’s try to understand the context first.

 
# April 4, 2010 at 19:03
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takura says:

one of the worst concepts i have seen, esp from Nouvel? maybe in realisation it becomes something special, but as is, i’m so so not convinced

 
# April 6, 2010 at 10:12

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