Eight top-notch firms advance in Qatar Art Mill competition

Qatar Museums launched a three-stage competition to ultimately find the architect to design the Qatar Art Mill. The winning scheme will convert an approximately 1 million square-foot flour mill into yet another art museum proposed for Doha Bay. It will comprise between 60,000 m2 and 80,000 m2 of gross space (645,835 sq. ft. and 861,113 sq. ft.), as well as accommodate extensive education, conference and event spaces, and conservation handling and research.

Out of the 26 top-notch architecture firms that were longlisted last August, eight of them won the jury's favor to move on to the third and final stage of the competition. They are:

• Adam Khan Architects (UK)
• Atelier Bow-Wow (Japan)
• EAA Emre Arolat Architecture (Turkey)
• Elemental (Chile)
• junya.ishigami + associates (Japan)
• Mangado & Asociados (Spain)
• Renzo Piano Building Workshop (Italy)
• Rice+Lipka Architects (US)

The shortlisters will receive further briefing and further develop their design proposals and strategies for the Art Mill site. If all goes smoothly with the competition, construction of the Art Mill is expected to start in 2019. Once built, the Art Mill will be “a vibrant and multi-layered civic and cultural presence” that will add to the increasing number of cultural institutions and museums in Doha.

Additionally, the jury panel was extended from the original five to eight:

• Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani
• His Excellency Sheikh Jassim bin Abdulaziz Al-Thani
• Dr. Hassan Rashid Al-Derham, President, Qatar University
• Professor Harry Gugger, Principal, Harry Gugger Studio
• Dr. Akel I. Kahera, Dean, Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar
• Sir John Leighton, Director-General, National Galleries of Scotland
• Jasper Morrison, Designer
• Hiroshi Sugimoto, Photographic artist, sculptor, architect, producer, and author
• Professor Chris Wise FREng FICE RDI, Director, Expedition

The jury is currently scheduled to interview each shortlisted team this fall, and the winner will be revealed shortly after.

“The creative challenge here can’t really be overstated. This project offers a chance to redefine museum architecture, to crystallise the very latest thinking on audience engagement, technology and environmental strategies," stated Qatar Museums Chairperson Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. “The museum experience in Doha is a special one. We have a young demographic, and the habit of bringing the family to the museum, enjoying the grounds and amenities at weekends, has caught on across our society.”