JEAN NOUVEL’s buildings are known to draw heavily from the culture and context of the country they are in, and his new design for the National Museum of Qatar is no exception. It has been described as perhaps the “architect’s most overtly poetic act of cultural synthesis yet”.

On every level NOUVEL has endeavoured to recall the world of the Bedouins: the pinkish hue of the concrete hints at the rich and subtle colors of the desert sands, and the tilting, disc-like roofs are arranged to echo the patterns formed both by sand roses (tiny formations that crystallize just below the surface of the sand), on a small scale, and the vast chaos of the sand dunes. The sprawling rooms and pavilions are designed to conjure up images of caravanserais, shelters built along trade routes.

This recollection of a culture that is fast becoming forgotten is incredibly important. The Bedouins left behind relatively little, and the artefacts that we do have are very fragile, so in this age of modernization it is tantamount that we continue to remember and celebrate them. JEAN NOUVEL has ensured that the museum will help not only as a place to house the artefacts, but as a physical embodiment of Bedouin characteristics: the delicately balanced disks and open spaces give an impression of a large group of impermanent strucures, while the sand rose pattern and color emphasises a one-ness with the desert.

However, as well as looking back and celebrating Bedouin culture, NOUVEL’s building also expresses modernism, communicating contemporary architectural themes of heterogeneity and openness. Having both of these aspects, the museum is perfectly poised to encourage the exchange of cultural traffic between East and West, tradition and modernity.

Inside the museum, the galleries will be arranged in a chronological order, with gaps formed between the tilting walls that lead the eye, and the visitor, through to the next room. At the same time, the arrangement allows for drifting, so you can take each gallery as a single exhibition.

NOUVEL’s new building follows the trend he has established with his other works like the Arab World Institute in Paris, twinning the old and new in a perfect synergy; the National Museum of Qatar promises to be as beautiful and delicate as a sand rose, whilst retaining the buzz of modern life.

www.jeannouvel.com

Written by Tom Godfrey