DOHA: Villas as part of the Katara Hills project will be built based on designs by students from universities around the world.
Katara yesterday announced the best five designs by architecture students, chosen through a competition organised by Katara and Aspire Katara Investments.
Winning the first three positions were designs by students of Chongqing University in China, followed by University of Milan (Italy) and Aalto University (Finland). The entries were selected from 24 from the above countries and Qatar, Germany and Jordan.
Katara Hills in the Cultural Village is an ambitious project to be implemented in phases. It will include 383 residential units on the hills at two sites at Katara. Of these, 133 will be villas with four to nine bedrooms and 250 two, three and four-bedroom apartments. The front side of the Katara Hills will be allocated for the most luxurious villas.
Katara General Manager Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti said the contest aimed at encouraging students to take part in developing and innovating designs reflecting international culture in line with Katara’s mission to bring together people from different parts of the world.
Dr Al Sulaiti said the entries reflected cultural variety which would enrich the experience Katara provides as a leading tourist attraction in the country.
Sheikh Nasser bin Albdulrahman Al Thani, CEO of Aspire Katara Investments, said the competition was based on the idea of connecting designers from various parts of the world, giving chance to students of different universities to hone skills, and linking the Qatari culture to international society.
He said the designs were assessed based on criteria such as the design should be developed according to the tradition and culture of the designer’s country and should respond to development plans. The design should suit the surroundings and take into account social aspects of local architecture.
The Peninsula
