Qatar Islamic Museum

The Islamic Museum in Qatar opened in November 2008. I.M. Pei designed the building. He researched about Islamic architecture, he then came up with a concept in relation with light.
Built on a man made island, an offshoot of the Corniche, the museum has a feel of non ostentatious, simple without gold and gaudy attributes. With a ramp to access, the scale and location gives an impression of small then bigger as one comes closer. Lines, light, basic elements are put together to produce a balance.
Pei played with light as if he mastered the source. The outer shell is multifaceted to encourage games of shadows without trivial tricks of color. On the top, he thought of an opening in the central dome to invite the light within and move as the earth rotates around the sun. He used simple geometrical forms, cubes, triangles. His choice of stones and glass are unified to transcend the material and be struck by the contrast and the creativity.
It surely worth the visit if ever in Qatar.

Link to the Museum