An inside view of one of the gift shops at National Museum of Qatar.
The National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ) gift shops were declared Jury Winner in the Commercial-Retail category of the prestigious 2020 Architizer A+Awards.
The winners were announced yesterday at the Architizer A+Awards’ official website and social media accounts.
Founded on the premise of democratising architecture, the A+Awards is considered the industry’s largest and most international awards programme and honours the best architecture, spaces, and products from across the globe.
With the theme “The Future of Architecture”, the eighth season of the awards elevates those designs that are transforming society and the built environment for generations to come.
The breathtaking design of NMoQ’s gifts shops was inspired by Dahl Al Misfir (Qatar’s “Cave of Light”) which is a beautiful underground sanctuary formed largely from fibrous gypsum crystals that give off a faint, moon-like, phosphorescent glow.
Their organic architecture, designed by Koichi Takada Architects, reflects his vision of bringing nature back into architecture, establishing relationships that connect people and nature through design.
The main gift shop stocks a large collection of well designed, exclusive gifts, many of which draw their inspiration from the history, heritage, and culture of Qatar.
The children’s gift shop offers a diverse range of locally designed souvenirs and gift items, including educational toys, books, puzzles and games. Both gift shops are located on the first floor of NMoQ.
Architizer A+Awards is organised by Architizer, the world’s leading online platform for architecture and building-products.
This year’s edition of the annual A+Awards received over 5,000 entries from more than 100 countries, with a special emphasis on honouring projects that respond to imminent global challenges such as climate change, urbanisation and migration, rising inequity, and pandemic.
A Jury-selected Winner and a Popular Choice Winner were awarded in each of the 115 categories, with over 400,000 votes cast by the voting public.
Since their opening last year, the gift shops have already won a string of international awards in various categories including retail and interior design in countries such as the US, the UK and Australia.
