Qatar Museums on Thursday released new renderings and a virtual fly-through video of the future Lusail Museum, revealing new details of the building for this world-class arts institution and global think tank. The design for the museum expresses the mission of convergence and conversation in a building conceived as “a vertically layered souk, or miniature city contained within a single building,” which will be the cultural anchor of Lusail City, the sustainable city now being realized north of Doha.
The museum will occupy the southern tip of Al Maha island and acts as a physical marker within the island. The museum’s plan takes the form of a circle, which conveys both universal meaning and a specific response to the building traditions of the Middle East and Doha.
Three intersecting spheres shape and carve the volume of the building into two distinct parts: one resembling a full moon, the other a crescent moon wrapping around it.
Double curvatures derived from the spheres form a crescent-shaped internal street naturally lit from above; it serves to connect the entrances of the museum to the central lobby and other public functions such as a library, auditorium, shop, café, and prayer space. (QNA) page 13
