The British Council and Qatar Museums Authority (QMA), on behalf of Qatar UK 2013, are inviting Qatari architects to be part of Qatar UK 2013 Year of Culture by entering the Old Doha Prize – a design residency and competition to be held from November 17 to 24.
The Old Doha Prize is being organised in association with Doha Architecture Centre and Msheireb Properties in Qatar as well as 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 new 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 Old Doha Prize and a grant of £15,000.
The grant will give the team the opportunity and resource to implement ideas explored as part of the design residency.
This may include implementation of the project in the form of an exhibition, installation, a research project, publication, public intervention or film.
The Old Doha Prize will encourage architects to develop compelling and contemporary ideas in response to Doha’s historic city centre. The brief will focus specifically on the neighbourhoods of Al Asmakh and Najada in the heart of Old Doha, and will be founded on the principle of “living heritage” - that heritage is not something set in history; rather, something that continually evolves while remaining deeply rooted in the past.
Riba president Angela Brady said, “The Old Doha Prize provides UK-and Qatar-based architects and designers the 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 Old Doha Prize and principal of Makower Architects in Doha and London, said: “It is an opportunity to raise awareness about the character-rich fabric of the old city, which could become the foundation of a ‘Qatari Renaissance’. It is also 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.”
Graham Sheffield, director (arts) for the British Council and spokesperson for Qatar UK 2013, said: “The Old Doha Prize is exactly the kind of cultural exchange (that) we want to promote as part of the Year (of Culture).”
Aisha Ghanem al-Attiya, spokesperson for Qatar UK 2013, said: “With this competition, we bring together one of the world’s largest and one of the world’s fastest growing design sectors, the UK and Qatar, while providing opportunities for ambitious architects and designers in both nations.”
The Old Doha Prize is open to architects with more than two years’ experience. Applicants must have the full support and endorsement of their architecture practice.
For details, visit http://backoftheenvelope.britishcouncil.org