Khalid Tawalbeh
Doha
FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 fans are certainly game for a visual treat.
The ambitious, futuristic buildings and architectural marvels that have come up in Qatar in a relatively short span of time will leave a lasting impact on the minds of fans and visitors.
The urban renaissance Qatar has seen in the past few years leading up to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will leave the visitors mesmerized.
From the moment fans enter Qatar at the Hamad International Airport to seeing the architectural masterpieces such as National Museum of Qatar, Aspire Tower, Museum of IslamicArt, Burj Doha Tower, Zig Zag Tower — to name a few — will leave them spellbound.
"Every place in Qatar has its own natural features that inspire architects and stimulate their creativity,” Dutch designer Ben van Berkel, Founder and CEO of UNStudio Architecture company, had said.
"In Doha, sea water meets the land in a unique way, which gave me, as an architect, a new engineering perspective on design and architecture,” he said.
Osama Quisani, an architect who arrived in Qatar recently, was in awe of design of the National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ) in the form of a desert rose.
"The museum embodied a symbol associated with the eternity of the desert and at the same time reflected the vitality and modernity with which Qatar is rippling at the moment,” he said.
"The desert rose has been forming for thousands of years through the interactions of wind and sand, a unique pattern that you don’t see anywhere else,” he added.
"The blades randomly intersect to form a complex entity. When you simulate the creativity of the desert and turn it into a huge museum, this is a real achievement scientifically,” he said. "Architecture is not a new concept in Qatar. There has always been an architectural vision of the urban appearance of Doha, not only this time,” he said.
"In fact, I was recently introduced to the country and did not witness the beginning of this urban revolution, but we were preceded by engineers who were proceeding according to a master plan and a specific vision”.
"To the extent that they contributed to the construction of new architectural monuments in Qatar, they helped us as architects to think about changing the reality of architectural and engineering heritage in our home countries,” he added.
Dr Ibrahim Alaa, a pharmacist, expressed his admiration for the wonderful stadiums. "Qatar has succeeded in creating a large amount of high-quality sports equipment in a relatively short time.”
"Qatar attracted a number of international and local designers to design the World Cup stadiums, which is just part of the whole picture of hosting the tournament, but it is the smallest part in fact, because hosting this event requires a large infrastructure and
buildings with a wonderful design character, and this is what the country has succeeded with excellence,” he added. Dr Ibrahim explained, "Qatar is a beautiful country and we are proud of it as the host of the World Cup. In Qatar lies the beauty of the creations of architectural monuments designed by engineers, which provide a great service to the younger generations of engineers and architects.”
Lisa Carlos, a Spanish resident who works as a teacher, said, "It is well known to everyone that Qatar is an architectural masterpiece with many famous buildings and monuments scattered all over the country. The buildings in Qatar vary from high-rise skyscrapers to beautifully-designed museums and traditional houses. You never see this nice mixture but in Qatar.”
"Not only will this edition of the World Cup be unique, but it will be remembered for a very long time, given the aesthetics of space-time that a visitor to the country will experience,” she added.