How the 2022 FIFA World Cup has changed Doha’s skyline with a luxe modern hotel and dramatic sword-inspired skyscrapers

The iconic Al-Janoub Stadium, shaped like a traditional dhow boat, hosted seven matches during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
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It is remarkable how quickly Qatar has pivoted to the centre of the global modernist architecture scene over the last 12 years. Almost as soon as it won the bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup back in December 2010, blueprints were drawn up for a construction blitzkrieg that continues to this day. All in sync with the Qatar National Vision 2030 and with an aim to transform Doha, its capital, into a city that’s never static.

Drawing on the Gulf region’s, and more pertinently, the country’s, penchant for blending progressive architecture and design with a traditional aesthetic, the dramatic new spaces that have come up reflect this synergy.

Readied last November, the twin Katara Towers in Doha’s sparkling new Lusail City neighbourhood serve as the architectural translation of Qatar’s national seal of the scimitar swords. The gleaming, 40-storey curvilinear buildings are symbolically intertwined with both Qatar’s heritage and futuristic vision. Designed by the West Asian architectural firm Dar Al-Handasah, each tower houses a five-star hotel connected by an indoor causeway.

Caption: The twin Katara Towers in Doha’s Lusail City neighbourhood is modelled after Qatar’s national seal of the scimitar swords.
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Getty Images

Attractions for tourists and residents

The iconic Al-Janoub Stadium, designed by the late Zaha Hadid and shaped like a traditional dhow boat, and the futuristic Lusail Stadium bear witness to the country’s architectural grandeur. “Overall, these FIFA-necessitated changes have helped modernise and improve the infrastructure of Doha, making it a more attractive destination for tourists and residents alike,” says Deepshikha Barretto, who has lived in Doha for over 20 years.

The city’s many new museums are also a prime example of this FIFA-inspired boom. For instance, at the National Museum of Qatar, which opened in March 2019, French Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel has dramatically infused the country’s nomadic Bedouin past with the present and future to create a grand concrete structure resembling the desert rose crystal. It is made of hundreds of interlocking disks that Nouvel designed to replicate the gypsum crystal he found on the very site where the museum stands.

Caption: The National Museum of Qatar, which opened in March 2019, resembles the desert rose crystal, and is made of hundreds of interlocking disks.
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Getty Images

As a permanent resident of Doha for the past two decades, Sindhu Nair, architect and creator/ editor of digital architectural magazine  Scale, has borne witness to this dynamism in the capital’s urban scale in recent times. “The stadia and the new hospitality buildings, of course, came as a result of FIFA requirements. Buildings which were forever in various stages of construction finally shook off their cover.”

Qatar Museums had announced a while ago that it was converting the city into an open air museum. “And true to its word, public art was revealed here every day, leading up to the start of the FIFA matches,” says Nair. Around 40 new, commissioned public artworks were installed throughout Doha and the rest of the country.

New wine in old bottle

One such new ‘old building’ that Nair mentions is The Ned hotel. Located in the middle of the iconic waterfront promenade of Doha Corniche, this 500,000 sq. ft. structure that once housed Qatar’s Ministry of the Interior, is an ode to the mid-century, Soviet Brutalist architecture style with its right-angular cuboid structure and neo-buttressed windows. Although brand new, having opened for operations in November 2022 to house the FIFA lot, The Ned Doha channels the ‘new wine/ old bottle’ adage to the hilt with its retro-chic appeal.

Caption: The 500,000 sq. ft. The Ned Doha hotel used to once house Qatar’s Ministry of the Interior.
| Photo Credit:
Courtesy The Ned Doha

But look directly across the Corniche from The Ned, towards the portside Ras Abu Aboud area, and a seemingly incongruous sight looms into perspective. Akin to giant LEGO blocks, Stadium 974 is a temporary structure made of repurposed shipping containers. Interestingly, the demolition of this stadium is already underway.

Caption: Stadium 974, built from 974 repurposed shipping containers, will soon be either remodelled or shipped to provide housing in underdeveloped countries.
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This 40,000-seater FIFA stadium gets its name not just from Qatar’s international dialling code, but also thanks to the 974 containers used to build it. “Just like London’s Millennium Dome, the IBM Travelling Pavilion and the Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand, this stadium is based on the ‘evanescent’ or ephemeral architecture model,” says formerly Doha-based urban planner Renil Fernando.

“Today, we are seeing this example replicated in structures like Doha’s Box Park (again, made from shipping containers). This stadium sets the tone for a new idiom of design and construction where wastage is limited,” says Fernando.

Stadium 974’s containers will soon be either remodelled or shipped to provide housing in underdeveloped countries. And its empty footprint is likely to be converted into a leafy waterfront park. Sustainability goals, indeed.

The Mumbai-based writer and restaurant reviewer is passionate about food, travel and luxury, not necessarily in that order.