 |
|
Dean Everette Dennis, joined by other NUQ officials for the groundbreaking at the university’s permanent site in Qatar yesterday |
Northwestern University in Qatar (NUQ) took the first steps towards establishing its permanent building at Education City yesterday, with a number of officials taking part in the ceremonial groundbreaking at the new site.
The building, designed by renowned architect Antoine Predock, is scheduled to be completed in 2014 and will include four video production studios, two 150-person lecture halls, a black box theatre, a two-studio radio station facility, a multimedia newsroom, a library capable of housing 40,000 volumes and a conference centre as well as other facilities.
Officials including the chairman of the board of trustees, William Osborn; provost, Daniel Linzer and vice president and general counsel, Thomas Cline were joined by member of the university’s joint advisory board at the ceremony.
Abdulla bin Ali al-Thani, president of Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani University, vice president for education at Qatar Foundation and member of NUQ’s joint advisory board, commented on the groundbreaking: “This new building will be a state-of-the-art facility for equipping future journalism and communication professionals to play their part in realising the vision of HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and of Qatar Foundation chairperson, HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser.”
“Both Qatar and the Arab region are changing rapidly and our populations need to be informed about and involved in these processes so that our societies are both participative and sustainable. As a core partner of Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Northwestern University in Qatar is making a substantial contribution to the region’s development,” he added.
Chairman Osborn said: “Antoine Predock is an architect of great distinction who studied the desert landscapes, sketched them and then offered us a distinctive building that will meld universal values in design with modernity, creating a platform for a 21st century school that aims to produce media and communications professionals for Qatar, this region and the world.”
“Today we begin the process of construction for a structure that is designed to think big, to guide its faculty and staff and students through a rapidly changing world where they will soon take their place as journalists, filmmakers, media and communications professionals and as engaged and informed citizens,” he added.
The new 32,520sqm building will be “among the most modern and well equipped in the world,” said Dean and CEO of NUQ, Everette Dennis. The structure will be located between Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service in Qatar and the future Islamic Studies Centre, said the dean.
Provost Linzer said: “Here students will enter a world of classrooms, studios, control rooms and theatres - all a platform for learning as they connect settled knowledge with new discoveries and learn to mould their skills into professional practice that will adapt to change.”
“This is a special day in a special year for NUQ,” he said, adding “this will help to transform students into the media leaders of the future – we look forward to very exciting developments.”
The building will also feature an exhibition space, designed to help students learn about the past, present and future of communication and media.
“This museum space will introduce scholars and enthusiasts of world and Middle Eastern media to artefacts from the past as well as changing exhibits that capture the essence of current debates over media and their role,” explained Dennis.