Alejandro Aravena and Elemental win the Art Mill International Design Competition

Qatar Museums, the Qatar museums’ organisation, announced the winner of the international design competition to create theArt Mill on the 15th May: theElemental studio of architect Alejandro Aravena, Pritzker Prize winner 2016. The new museum of art on the Doha seafront, together with the Museum of Islamic Art designed by Ieoh Ming Pei and the National Museum of Qatar by Jean Nouvel, is further confirmation of Qatar’s intention to transform its capital into a reference point for international art.

The international design competition saw a large number of participants with 489 designs from 56 countries. The jury announced the names of the 8 finalists in 2016: Adam Khan Architects (UK), Atelier Bow-Wow (Japan), EAA Emre Arolat Architecture (Turkey), Junya.Ishigami + Associates (Japan), Mangado & Asociados (Spain), Renzo Piano Building Workshop (Italy), Rice+Lipka Architects (USA) and the winning design from Elemental (Chile). The jury defined the Elemental design “a serene work of art” and appreciated its use of simple materials to which the patina of time will give further value. It also praised its strategy to overcome problems linked to the local climate, that takes advantage of the site’s vocation and pre-existing structures. The area was the headquarters of a food company that produced bread. The architects suggested exploiting the geometry of the silos, used to store grain, to create walkways for cooling the spaces.

(Agnese Bifulco)

Architects: Elemental (Alejandro Aravena)
Location: Doha, Qatar
Images: Elemental Art Mill Concept Design 1 & 2 (c) Malcolm Reading Consultants and Elemental

www.elementalchile.cl/
competitions.malcolmreading.co.uk/

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