Qatar Creates at Venice Architecture Biennale

Qatar Creates, on the occasion of 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, will present the documentary exhibition “Building a Creative Nation”, the first presentation outside the country of Qatar's next generation of cultural institutions.

Hosted at ACP – Palazzo Franchetti, the exhibition will be on view from May 14 to November 26.

“Building a Creative Nation”, designed by 2 x 4, focuses on five new cultural venues being developed by Qatar Museums (QM) in Qatar with internationally acclaimed architectural practices Elemental, Herzog & de Meuron, the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), Philippe Starck, and UNStudio.

The new developments all will be operated by the QM, which is responsible for preserving and enlarging Qatar's cultural endowment by overseeing the country's growing network of museums, heritage sites, festivals, public art programme, and more.

The exhibition brings together renderings, photographs, sketches, studies, models, video, as well as immersive content, to present each project as a considered architectural response to an aspect of the QM’s programme of cultural nation-building.

QM Chairperson HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani said: “When the opportunity to support the exhibition of Kengo Kuma on the occasion of the Venice Architectural Biennale 2023 arose, we felt that it would be a great moment to share the cultural projects that Qatar is embarking on after its successful hosting for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.”

“The cultural, economic, and socio-political relationship between Qatar and Italy has always been strong, as has the relationship between Qatar and Japan,” she said. “It is therefore a great moment in our modern history to reveal the extent of Qatar’s cultural programme, amongst one of the greatest displays of architecture and most important showcases anywhere for epoch-making designs.”
Projects featured in Building a Creative Nation are:

* Art Mill Museum
Architect: Elemental led by Alejandro Aravena

* Lusail Museum
Architect: Herzog & de Meuron

* Qatar Auto Museum
Architect: OMA led by Rem Koolhaas and Samir Bantal

* Qatar Preparatory School
Architectural concept: Philippe Starck

* Dadu, Children’s Museum of Qatar
Architect: UNStudio

These new developments build on the legacy of Qatar’s continuing investment in the world-class museums and cultural spaces that have opened in the country over the last 15 years.

They include:
* The Museum of Islamic Art
Architect: I M Pei (2008)

* Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art
Architect: François Bodin (2010)

* Fire Station
Architect: Ibrahim Al Jaidah (2015)

* The Qatar National Library
Architect: OMA (2017)

* The National Museum of Qatar
Architect: Jean Nouvel (2019);

* M7
Architect: John McAslan + Partners (2021)

* 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum
Architect: Joan Sibina (2022).

Other notable architectural commissions in Qatar in recent years have included Al Janoub Stadium by Zaha Hadid Architects, Lusail Stadium by Foster + Partners, the Qatar National Convention Centre by Arata Isozaki + Associates, and the Education City Student Centre and buildings for three international university programmes by Legorreta + Legorreta.

As part of its commitment to furthering international dialogue through architecture and as main sponsor, Qatar has provided support for a special exhibition of the work of the celebrated Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, presented simultaneously with Building a Creative Nation at ACP-Palazzo Franchetti.

Kengo Kuma is one of the most renowned architects working in Japan today, acclaimed for his merger of architecture and landscape and for his emphasis on natural light and natural materials, especially wood.

Among his notable buildings are the Yusuhara wooden bridge museum, the Garden Terrace Nagasaki hotel in southwest Japan, the Yunfeng Spa Resort in China, the V&A Dundee, and Japan’s National Stadium, the centrepiece for the 2020 Olympic Games.

The exhibition, “Onomatopeia – Selected Projects”, will explore the full range of Kuma’s work in diverse materials.

A large-scale metal pavilion designed by Kuma will occupy a central space in the walled garden of Palazzo Franchetti.