DOHA: University College London Qatar (UCL Qatar) hosted a public lecture on the evolution of Doha’s urban landscape yesterday at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) auditorium.
Part of the Qatar-UK year of culture activities, “Doha: Past, Present and Future” lecture featured presentations by Dr Robert Carter, Senior Lecturer in Arab Archaeology at UCL Qatar and Tim Makower, Principal, Makower Architects.
Dating back 5,000 years, Dr Carter said the Middle East region was home to the world’s oldest urban civilization.
Based on his research, Gulf towns in the 18th and early 19th centuries arose as pearl fishing towns dependent on trade and pearl fishing revenues to survive such as Al Zubara which was founded in 1762 and emerged as a major trading port in the country.
Dr Carter also discussed how Doha has transformed into what it is today based on recent excavations at various sites in the city revealing important artefacts key to understanding its different periods of development.
Makower stressed the significance of preserving local architecture amid the huge development projects going on in the city.
He identified Al Asmakh area as one of the remaining sites in the city which abounds with structures of traditional and early modern architecture and has huge potential to be developed into something that bears the character of Qatari architecture and could be linked to Souq Waqif and Msheireb.
He stressed the significance of combining traditional and modern architecture and the role of new generation Qatari designers to revive old Doha. Hundreds of historians, archaeologists, architects, urban planners and heritage specialists attended the yesterday’s lecture. The Peninsula
