“The project is unique because it started with a simple idea,” said architect Ibrahim Mohamed Jaidah, who was responsible for the design of an inimitable building recently constructed in Doha’s sports city. That “simple idea” Jaidah speaks of was to design a mixed-use complex in the shape of 2022, the number that identifies the year of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. This is an initiative to commemorate this sporting event, which will be held in Qatar in November and December. The project was commissioned by the chief architect of the development company Arab Engineering Bureau, Nasser bin Hamad Al Thani. “Sheikh Nasser said to me, “Ibrahim, I have a challenge for you,” and showed me a sketch of 2022,” Jaidah explained. The result is an iconic building (never better said), or, in Al Thani’s words, “the first building in the world that looks like a year“.
The complex consists of four buildings, each with one side of the façade and floor in the shape of one of the digits of the number 2022, all connected by a two-storey podium. The ground floor of the podium is used for a supermarket, a café and restaurants, whilst the upper level houses a sports centre and health centres. In contrast, the towers are dedicated to the offices of various sports bodies.
“We had a design option inspired by the World Cup trophy,” Al Thani explained, “but the trophy does not belong to Qatar.” However, “2022 belongs to us“. So, the origin of the project goes back to his intention to “create a building related to the year and the generation that made the tournament possible”, in other words, the 2022 World Cup. In doing so, Al Tani expressed his wish that “the building will remain a beautiful reminder“. There is no doubt that this will be the case, and that when future generations ask about the unique and emblematic form of this building, the answers will have to refer to the football tournament and the year in which it was held.
