Museum Of Islamic Art Qatar Biography
Source:- Google.com.pkI would have designed more decorative patterns if I had had the guts,« reports world-famous architect Ioeh Ming Pei, erstwhile student of Walter Gropius at the Graduate School of Design in Harvard, looking back at the completed Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. Throughout his career, the modern-inspired Pritzker prize-winner had remained true to his conviction of naked style and no-frills design. But at the age of 91, the American architect, born in 1917 of Chinese extraction, produced ornamental design details for the atrium of the museum in the emirate of Qatar.
He was inspired by a study trip lasting several months and passing through Cordoba, Tunisia and other places full of Islamic architecture with a view to discovering the essence of the artistic style. The aim was that this would provide him with the basis for his museum design for the Emir of Qatar. It was only once Sheikh Hamad bin Kalifa al-Thani had promised the architect an exquisite building plot selected by Pei himself – an artificial island covering 35,000 square metres – that the latter agreed and set off on his journey. Pei later explained that the ultimate aim was one of his most difficult jobs ever. It was very difficult to dilute the essence of Islamic architecture when there were so many different national and usage-related interpretations and variations.
I. M. Pei finally achieved his aim at the Ahmad Ibn Tulun Mosque in Cairo (876 to 879). The ablution fountain added to the complex in the 13th century really captivated the architect with its cubist expression of geometric progression. A smaller square rises up from a square at the base before continuing in three different octagonal shapes with a dome on top. »This strict architecture comes alive in the sunlight, with its shadows and colour tones,« Pei later explained to author Philip Jodidio. Pei had discovered the essence of Islam for him in the universal quality of the proportions and the interaction with the light of the desert.
Taking his inspiration from the fountain, Pei layered various geometric shapes to form a strictly cubic structure. In an interview for a film documentary released in late 2011, the architect confessed that »Some people say I’m obsessed with geometry.« »Maybe they’re right. I believe that architecture is nothing more than geometry made real« Pei continues and then sums up: »It is a simple fact that Islamic architecture is based on geometry. Which is why I am drawn to it, as it is something I love.« The Museum of Islamic Art has a square basis, with an octagon introducing more complex forms and ending in a cross shape. These facets add a feeling of lightness to the heavy construction and the building begins to come alive in the sunlight of the Arabian Gulf which transforms the architecture into a game of light and shadows. »The building is a cube,« Pei explains in the film »Learning from the Light – Architect I. M. Pei«. »Without the sunlight, it would be boring.«
Surprising: decorative patterns and shapes.
With all this understatement and the fact that the architecture of this fragmented »cube« has already been described in detail in a range of different articles, the focus below is on the central interior space, where the visitor comes across surprising decorative patterns and shapes. Visitors first enter the atrium, with its magnificent ringlike staircase and a circular lighting structure encompassing the whole room floating above it. The design of this staircase, which goes as far as the first gallery level, is simply based on the idea of using a 45 metre window to give visitors a spectacular view over the Arabian Gulf. The floor of the hall has a decorative pattern inspired by Islamic arabesque but with a strict geometric and modern feel. On the third step, visitors are exactly beneath the central point of the round window of the domed roof, the highest point of the hall. A geometric matrix slowly transforms the dome downwards from a circle to an octagon then a square and finally four triangular components based on columns of different heights; a design which is also reminiscent of the ablution fountain at Ibn Tulun, which has a dome based on similar principles. Because it has so many facets, the stainless steel dome in Doha creates a wonderful interaction of light patterns which magically draw the eye in and act almost as ornamental adornments.
The world's largest collection of Islamic art has gone on display in the Gulf state of Qatar.
The $300 million Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, the capital of Qatar, was unveiled on Saturday before Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the emir of Qatar, and 1,000 dignitaries from around the world.
IM Pei, the 91-year-old Chinese-born architect of the museum and creator of the Louvre pyramid in Paris, told the audience: "I am only an architect, but this building is very special to me.
"It helped me learn something about another world, another religion and another culture."
The centre is viewed as the jewel in the crown of the country's bid to become a cultural force in the region.
Qatar's royal family has been actively buying art for the collection ranging from Chinese gold objects to modernist paintings, among them an abstract by Mark Rothko sold by US tycoon David Rockefeller last year for $72.8m.
"They are very discreet about money and the direction of investment, but they are looking for world-class pieces," an official from the newly created Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) told the UK's The Economist magazine.
Cultural landmark
IN VIDEO
Qatar unveils museum of Islamic art
Oliver Watson, a former senior curator of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London who advised on the project, told the UK's Financial Times: "This collection is not as big in comparison with the Louvre or the Metropolitan, but the quality is astonishing. It can match the best collections anywhere."
More than 1,000 invited guests, including political leaders, Hollywood celebrities, Arab singers, artists and art critics, were present at the inaugural ceremony.
Mohamad Hassanein Heikal, an adviser to the late Egyptian prime minister Gamal Abdel Nasser, and Dominique De Villepin, the former French prime minister, were among the guest speakers.
Built on a man-made island, the 382,000-square-foot Museum of Islamic Art is dedicated to research into Islamic art, learning and creativity.
'Deepening relationships'
The museum is exhibiting an art collection dating from the eighth century to the 19th from across the Islamic world and countries that have been influenced by Islamic artistic trends, such as India and Spain.
The museum also displays metalwork, ceramics, precious stones and jewellery, woodwork, textiles, ivory, examples of Islamic calligraphy, ancient books and portraits.
The museum has at least 4,500 objects but only about 850 will be on display at any one time.
Arab envoys in Qatar say the museum will play an important role in deepening the relationship between the East and West.
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Museum Of Islamic Art Qatar Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Museum Of Islamic Art Qatar Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Museum Of Islamic Art Qatar Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Museum Of Islamic Art Qatar Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Museum Of Islamic Art Qatar Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Museum Of Islamic Art Qatar Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Museum Of Islamic Art Qatar Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Museum Of Islamic Art Qatar Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Museum Of Islamic Art Qatar Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Museum Of Islamic Art Qatar Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Museum Of Islamic Art Qatar Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Museum Of Islamic Art Qatar Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Museum Of Islamic Art Qatar Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Museum Of Islamic Art Qatar Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
Museum Of Islamic Art Qatar Islamic Art Calligraphy And Architecture Designs Patterns Wallpapers Desktop Wallpapers Hd Calligraphy Wallpapers Calligraphy Canvas Wallpapers Canvas
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