
Real Estate & Construction
Localism & the Seven Principles
Urban living is changing, and not just because the pandemic forced us all to rethink how we live. Developers are responding to the clear drive from consumers to make increasingly sustainable choices available in both the construction and subsequent operation of new developments and facilities. At the same time, developers who are building tomorrow’s cities are finding a drive towards localism and a demand for a new sense of place in our communities, says Eng. Ali Al Kuwari, CEO of Msheireb Properties.
Msheireb Properties, Qatar’s leading sustainable property developer, is at the forefront of driving this change. The organization is working to redefine urban living, bring people back to their roots, and rediscover a sense of community and togetherness through their flagship regeneration development—Msheireb Downtown Doha.
“Msheireb Downtown Doha is what the future of urban living will be, we believe. It provides a blueprint for developers throughout the world, by showing how you can seamlessly integrate tradition, with modernity, and respond to the growing movement for localism” says architect Fatima Mohammed Fawzy, Sustainability Manager of Msheireb Properties.
The 31-hectare mixed-use development has seen the regeneration of the historic heart of Qatar’s capital, Doha, breathing new life back into the historic center of the city. It includes office space, retail, leisure facilities, townhouses, apartments, hotels, museums, civic services, and cultural and entertainment venues. Msheireb Downtown Doha is designed to foster deeper community connections through the use of space, and the result is a downtown area that is designed for the end user, with a low environmental impact and a strong visual connection to Qatar’s history.
“To achieve our ambitions and create a place that felt distinctly Qatari, while still providing the latest in amenities and services that are world class, such as smart connectivity and sustainable practices, we spent three years developing a unique blueprint that focused on delivering local needs and wants, with the best techniques from the past. The result is our world-first “Seven Principles” framework. The framework integrates the spirit and aesthetics of Qatari architecture—such as the use of materials and design features that feel local—with the best that sustainable design and modern technology have to offer. Ultimately, our principle approach aims to restore the uniqueness of Qatar’s built environment and the strong local ties that once defined Qatari society in a modern but authentic way.”
Msheireb Downtown Doha’s architectural language was developed as a collaboration with some of the world’s leading architects, academics, and urban planners. The finished product, capturing important ideas such as continuity, is an acknowledgement of the individual and collective, and space and form, and is a declaration for an entirely new architectural language that Msheireb Properties believes will take Qatar’s architectural development into the future.
“The importance of the “Seven Principles” framework cannot be overstated in helping us to achieve our ambitions as an organization, and to meet the changing needs of our end-users. By drawing on ideas such as the privacy and security of a traditional Qatari home, together with generous indoor and outdoor spaces overlapping, we have been able to build a spirit of family and a sense of community. At the same time, designing for the unique local climate was a huge feature. We approached this by using technology old and new, to achieve maximum comfort with minimum energy use.”
These ideas, in particular the emphasis on the local, will be explored at the upcoming World Urban Forum, to be held in Cairo, Egypt in November. Msheireb Properties delegates, including CEO Eng. Ali Al Kuwari, will be in attendance.
The Msheireb Properties “Seven Principles” have become a guide for others can use to achieve an unprecedented sense of place rooted in the very best of vernacular architecture.
“Our seven principles serve as a model for achieving local, connected communities that minimize our overall impact on the environment and celebrate our historic past. The result is a spare and beautiful architecture that responds to the sense of place and which resonates with us today and for the future.”
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The seven principles are:
- Continuity: to achieve continuity between the past, the present, and the future by finding timeless motifs and techniques. Respecting time-honored traditions and applying them in a new way.
- Individual and Collective: to achieve harmony and cohesion within the city by promoting diversity, while ensuring that buildings by diverse architects are bound together by a common language.
- Space and Form: to reflect the character and informality of the traditional ‘carved city’. Buildings are not objects; they are part of an ‘urban clay’ from which spaces and forms are carved.
- Home: to deliver an exceptional living environment; offering privacy and security together with generous indoor and outdoor spaces overlapping. A spirit of family and a sense of community.
- Streets: to create a lasting setting for vibrant street life. A shaded environment with pedestrian priority. Arcades and frontages are designed to create a comfortable and memorable network of places.
- Designing for Climate: to use technology old and new, to achieve maximum comfort with minimum energy use. To create shade, minimize heat gains and harness the natural forces of the sun and wind.
- A New Language of Architecture: to build on Qatari architectural tradition by using a new language, rich in reference and strong in resonance; flexible, to be spoken in many accents but consistent, to be understood by all.
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