How the 2022 FIFA World Cup has changed Doha’s skyline

Qatar has pivoted to the centre of the global modernist architecture scene over the last 12 years. Almost as soon as it won the bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup back in December 2010, blueprints were drawn up for a construction blitzkrieg that continues to this day. All in sync with the Qatar 2030 vision and with an aim to transform Doha, its capital, into a city that’s never static. This has resulted in a dramatic landscape that includes a luxe mid-century modern hotel and a pair of sword-inspired skyscrapers. The iconic Al-Janoub Stadium, shaped like a traditional dhow boat, and the futuristic Lusail Stadium also bear witness to the country’s architectural grandeur. The city’s many new museums are also a prime example of this FIFA-inspired boom. For instance, the National Museum of Qatar resembles the gypsum desert rose crystal found in abundance in the desert here. Then there is The Ned Doha with its right-angular cuboid structure and neo-buttressed windows, and Stadium 974, a temporary structure made of repurposed shipping containers. Interestingly, the demolition of this stadium is already under way.

It is remarkable how quickly Qatar has pivoted to the centre of the global modernist architecture scene over the last 12 years. Almost as soon as it won the bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup back in December 2010, blueprints were drawn up for a construction blitzkrieg that continues to this day. All in sync with the Qatar National Vision 2030 and with an aim to transform Doha, its capital, into a city that’s never static.

Drawing on the Gulf region’s, and more pertinently, the country’s, penchant for blending progressive architecture and design with a traditional aesthetic, the dramatic new spaces that have come up reflect this synergy.

Readied last November, the twin Katara Towers in Doha’s sparkling new Lusail City neighbourhood serve as the architectural translation of Qatar’s national seal of the scimitar swords. The gleaming, 40-storey curvilinear buildings are symbolically intertwined with both Qatar’s heritage and futuristic vision. Designed by the West Asian architectural firm Dar Al-Handasah, each tower houses a five-star hotel connected by an indoor causeway.

The iconic Al-Janoub Stadium, designed by the late Zaha Hadid and shaped like a traditional dhow boat, and the futuristic Lusail Stadium bear witness to the country’s architectural grandeur. “Overall, these FIFA-necessitated changes have helped modernise and improve the infrastructure of Doha, making it a more attractive destination for tourists and residents alike,” says Deepshikha Barretto, who has lived in Doha for over 20 years.

The city’s many new museums are also a prime example of this FIFA-inspired boom. For instance, at the National Museum of Qatar, which opened in March 2019, French Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel has dramatically infused the country’s nomadic Bedouin past with the present and future to create a grand concrete structure resembling the desert rose crystal. It is made of hundreds of interlocking disks that Nouvel designed to replicate the gypsum crystal he found on the very site where the museum stands.

As a permanent resident of Doha for the past two decades, Sindhu Nair, architect and creator/ editor of digital architectural magazine  Scale, has borne witness to this dynamism in the capital’s urban scale in recent times. “The stadia and the new hospitality buildings, of course, came as a result of FIFA requirements. Buildings which were forever in various stages of construction finally shook off their cover.”

Qatar Museums had announced a while ago that it was converting the city into an open air museum. “And true to its word, public art was revealed here every day, leading up to the start of the FIFA matches,” says Nair. Around 40 new, commissioned public artworks were installed throughout Doha and the rest of the country.