National Museum of Qatar
Jean Nouvel’s “desert rose” building telling the story of Qatar and its people.
The National Museum of Qatar tells the story of the country and its people, from its geological formation and natural environment to the Bedouin way of life, the pearling era, the discovery of oil and the modern state. It stands at the southern end of the Doha Corniche and opened to the public on 28 March 2019. Operated by Qatar Museums, it replaced an earlier national museum that had opened on the same site in 1975.
The building was designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel, who took the desert rose, a crystal formation found in the Gulf region, as his starting point. Large interlocking discs of varying size and angle form the walls, floors and roofs, creating shaded recesses that shelter visitors from the heat. The complex has a floor area of around 40,000 square metres and wraps around a central courtyard, with landscaped grounds and a lagoon between the museum and the sea.
At the heart of the site is the restored early twentieth-century palace of Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani, which once served as the seat of government and later housed the original museum. The permanent galleries follow a chronological route through Qatar's history and hold around 8,000 objects, including archaeological finds, Bedouin textiles and tents, jewellery and historic documents. The museum also has an auditorium, a research centre and spaces for temporary exhibitions.
Highlights
- Jean Nouvel's building inspired by the desert rose crystal
- Restored palace of Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani at its centre
- Chronological galleries from Qatar's geology to the modern state
- Around 8,000 objects, including Bedouin tents, textiles and jewellery
- Landscaped park and lagoon at the southern end of the Corniche
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![Théâtre de la guerre dans l'Inde sur la coste de Coromandel / par M.B.C.T. [Monsieur Bourcet Capitaine ?] ; gravé par Croisey](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Fort_de_Calicuta_-_btv1b59706294.jpg/500px-Fort_de_Calicuta_-_btv1b59706294.jpg)
