DOHA: The British Council and Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) have launched the Old Doha Prize — a week-long design residency and competition in Doha from November 17 to 24.
A part of Qatar UK 2013 Year of Culture, the prize is organised in association with Doha Architecture Centre and Msheireb Properties in Qatar as well as the Royal Institute for British Architects (RIBA) and The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL in the UK.
The prize offers Qatari architects the opportunity to collaborate with their UK counterparts; five teams will research and explore ways to address the changing urban landscape of Old Doha.
They will share approaches, skills and creative ideas to explore the process of regeneration and potential for incorporating the heritage and history of the area into their designs.
The winning team will be awarded the prize and a grant of £15,000. The grant will provide the team with the opportunity and resource to implement ideas explored as part of the design residency.
It may include implementation of the project in the form of an exhibition, research project, publication, installation, public intervention or film.
The prize aims to encourage architects to develop compelling and contemporary ideas in response to Doha’s historic city centre. Entries should focus on the neighbourhoods of Al Asmakh and Najada in the heart of Old Doha, based on the principle of ‘Living Heritage’.
Angela Brady, RIBA President, said: “The prize provides UK and Qatar- based architects and designers with a unique opportunity to work together in the spirit of collaboration, experimentation and international learning to help develop sustainable solutions for the long-term regeneration of Old Doha.”
Tim Makower, Lead Facilitator for the prize and principal of Makower Architects in Doha and London, said: “The idea for the prize is the coming together of two things which are important for the future of architecture and urbanism in Qatar. First, it is the opportunity to raise awareness about the character-rich fabric of the old city which could become the foundation of a ‘Qatari Renaissance’.
“Second, it is a chance to celebrate and explore how young design talent from Qatar and the UK can work together, and push the boundaries of what it means to respond to the identity of a place and explore how ‘heritage’ can be a springboard into the future as well as being a deep root in the past,”
The Peninsula
