Qatar Government Center (TAC's competition entry)

Notes

The Government Centre competition was launched in 1976 by Qatar (under the rule of Emir Sheikh Khalifa) with the aim of conceiving a single complex that would literally and figuratively unify the portfolios of the fractious ministry system and project an image of an aesthetically and technologically modern nation-state. In that vein, internationally renowned architects were invited for the competition, among which Kenzo Tange, James Stirling, The Architects Collaborative (TAC), and Günter Behnisch submitted entries. While Tenge's proposal won the competition—itself not realized—TAC's proposal is also of important value, especially with its sensitivity to the climate.

TAC's proposal had eight-storey-tall ministries arranged in clusters of three around water gardens. "Like TAC’s earlier work in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, the ministries are massed to shade themselves and feature minimal fenestration; however, more expansive glazing can be found on bayside and self-shading façades," (Himes, 2018). Facades of the different buildings were given the same treatment, yet the Ministry of Interior, on the east end of the site, already under construction at that time, had a different style. A raised landscaped promenade was designed to link all the ministries.

See also Qatar Government Center (Tange's competition entry) and Qatar Government Center (Stirling's competition entry).

Sources

Adam Himes, “Competing Visions for a Modern Emirate: The Government Centre of the State of Qatar”, International Journal of Islamic Architecture, 7:1, 2018, p. 143–69, doi: 10.1386/ijia.7.1.143_1

John Lockerbie, the resident architect and planner for the Llewelyn-Davies team in Doha from 1972 and later chief architect and planner in the Technical Office of the Emir in 1975, catnaps.org

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