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COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL 20 c01.indd 20 23/11/2014 20:06 Sarina Wake eld 21 c01.indd 21 23/11/2014 20:06 How might interpretations Museums have been present in the Gulf since Jean Nouvel’s design for the National the 1950s,1 and since 2000 there has been a Museum, located on a prominent site in of the past be informing proliferation of state-led large-scale ‘iconic’ Doha and scheduled for completion in the culture of tomorrow? projects, many of which are still under 2016,draws inspiration from the desert rose, construction. Like their counterparts in Asia ‘a mineral formation of crystallized sand Sarina Wake eld, a and the West, museum projects in the Gulf found in the briny layer just beneath the specialist in heritage and are not immune to the desire for iconic desert’s surface’. 4 A building information buildings by invited internationally recognised modelling (BIM) project was developed by museum development architects. Many of these developments have Gehry Technologies to ensure the accuracy in the Middle East, been highly criticised for trying to replicate and workability of the complex design, Western-style museums and for ‘importing which consisted of ‘tilting, interpenetrating provides an overview of culture’. However, by analysing the disks that de ne the pavilion’s oors, walls the form and function of architectural form and the function of some and roofs’5 and seeks to establish an iconic contemporary museums of these new museums, in particular those in image for the museum. Nouvel’s design Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, it links the inside and outside of the museum in Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi is possible to see how different aspects of the by incorporating a 110,000-square-metre Arabia and the UAE. In past are being employed to develop (1.2-million-square-foot) landscaped park. distinctive identities using locally derived In uenced by the local environment, the so doing, she explores themes to address a global audience. park will become a ‘Qatari desert landscape’ how institutions are incorporating various indigenous plants. Qatar Museums: Nation and Identity ‘When complete the museum will house drawing on locally The Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) was 8,000 square metres (86,000 square feet) of speci c heritage and formed in 2005 with the aim of developing permanent gallery space, which will feature Qatar into a regional cultural centre. This three central themes: the natural history of cultural objects to develop was a measured move by the government the Qatar peninsula, the social and cultural distinctive identities for an whose directive is to reinforce and promote history of Qatar, and the history of Qatar Qatari national identity locally, regionally and as a nation from the 18th century to the international audience. internationally. QMA’s vision focuses on the present.’6 development of national museums and the Qatar’s ambitions to become a cultural preservation of cultural heritage.2 The most centre have also focused on Islamic culture visible manifestations are Qatar’s agship and identity through the development museum projects: the National Museum of of the Museum of Islamic Art, which Qatar and the Museum of Islamic Art. opened in 2008. Designed by IM Pei, the The development of the National 35,000-square-metre (377,000-square-foot) Museum of Qatar marks a measured move museum aims to be ‘the foremost museum by the Qatari government to use architecture of Islamic art in the world’.7 It is inspired by to establish its identity. Qatar’s original the domed ablution fountain at the Ibn Tulun National Museum opened in 1975 in a Mosque in Cairo, and used in Pei’s design restored palace built in the early 20th century by layering geometric shapes to form a 8 Tadao Ando, by Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al-Thani. This cubic structure. The aim is to challenge Maritime Museum, early museum served as his family residence misconceptions of Islam by illustrating its Saadiyat Marina 3 District, and the seat of government for 25 years. role as a culture, not just a religion, through Saadiyat Island In 1980 the building won the Aga Khan the breadth of its collection that spans 13 Abu Dhabi, UAE, Award for restoration and rehabilitation of centuries and three continents. Through ongoing Islamic architecture. Although not currently Islamic symbolism and the development previous spread: Artist’s operational, redevelopment plans draw on of its global collections and programmes, impression of the proposed the theme of Qatar’s natural history and the museum takes an overtly international museum illustrating how the clean lines of the building environment for inspiration. approach. merge with the surrounding seascape. Ateliers Jean Nouvel, National Museum of Qatar, Doha, Qatar, due for completion 2016 The design for the National Museum makes reference to Qatar’s natural environment through disc-shaped planes that appear to rise from the site like a desert rose. 22 c01.indd 22 23/11/2014 20:06 The National Museum of Saudi Arabia: an Islamic Centre The development of museums in Saudi Arabia is related to wider policies of social and intellectual development. The National Museum of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, which opened in January 1999, formed part of the government’s economic development programme to widen Saudis’ economic and cultural activities. The architects, Moriyama & Teshima, saw the design of the museum as an instrument to ‘help Saudis de ne themselves for the rest of the world and to inspire national pride in Saudi culture and history’.9 The central design is a wall of local limestone that forms a curved line directing the visitor’s gaze towards Mecca. Inside the 35,840-square-metre (385,780-square- foot) museum are eight major display halls arranged according to historical sequence containing a collection of archaeological nds, documents, manuscripts, paintings and IM Pei, lm. Museum of Islamic Art, The museum’s ultimate aim is to educate Doha, Qatar, 2008 visitors about the kingdom’s history and its relationship to Islam. Unlike other institutions IM Pei was commissioned out of retirement to design the in the Gulf that have been developed for an museum, which was based on international audience and tourists, museums geometrical transformations in Saudi Arabia face challenges due to found throughout the history of Arab Islamic architecture. restrictive visa requirements. Therefore, the National Museum primarily targets regional and national visitors, and expatriate workers residing in Saudi. The physical building and its collections are used as a space for selected audiences to engage with the kingdom’s past, and the iconic treatment of the building and the international reputation of the architects are used to position the project globally. Moriyama & Teshima, National Museum of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1999 The museum’s curved wall, which is strategically positioned to sweep towards Mecca, marks the entry to the building and de nes an open plaza. 23 c01.indd 23 23/11/2014 20:06 24 c01.indd 24 23/11/2014 20:06 KHR Arkitekter, Bahrain: Architecture and the Pre-Islamic Past Rather than moving away from the Bahrain National Museum, Manama, Bahrain, The Bahrain National Museum, which earlier vernacular traditions, the new Qal’at 1988 is distinguished by its locally sensitive al-Bahrain Site Museum combines these architectural design, was built in 1988 to traditions with contemporary Scandinavian The design for the museum draws on Bahraini vernacular precedents to house artefacts from extensive archaeological techniques and expertise. Opened in 2008, produce a functionally focused space excavations that have contributed to the 2,000-square-metre (21,500-square- to house and display the nation’s knowledge of the nation’s pre-Islamic past. foot) museum is situated to the north of the archaeological collection. The archaeological evidence suggests that Qal’at al-Bahrain fort, which was inscribed the earliest occupation of Bahrain dates to as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.14 around 5000–4000 BC, and that it became Excavations around the fort have revealed the centre of the Kingdom of Dilmun. residential, public, commercial and military The remains of an early Dilmun city were structures that testify to the importance of the discovered at the site of Qal’at al-Bahrain (the site. The museum supplements the Bahrain Bahrain Fort).10 Dilmun served as a trading National Museum by displaying artefacts centre from around 2500 BC, and at the height from the site dating from 2500 BC to the of its power it controlled Gulf trading routes. present day. It was designed and developed The site at Qal’at al-Bahrain would have by Copenhagen-based Wohlert Arkitekter served as an important trading stop on the in collaboration with COWI Consulting. In routes stretching north to Mesopotamia and contrast to large-scale museum projects Assyria, south to Oman and Africa, and east throughout the Gulf, the Qal’at al-Bahrain to the Indus Valley.11 Site Museum retains the ‘scale of traditional The museum was designed and buildings in Bahrain’.15 It is designed to developed by Bahrain-based engineers COWI enhance visitors’ experience of the site by Consulting in collaboration with Danish providing tourist facilities and a series of architects KHR Arkitekter. The architecture of pathways along the waterfront leading to the building is characterised by a minimalist the fort. Inside the museum are ve halls white travertine facade, 45-degree rotations organised around a 30-metre (100-foot) and a dramatic courtyard overlooking the tell wall, which is representative of the seafront.12 This is arguably due to a much fort’s position atop a 17.5-hectare (43.2- Wohlert Arkitekter, greater interest in developing architecture acre) arti cial hill (the tell).