By Samantha Pires on January 3, 2021
This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase, My Modern Met may earn an affiliate commission. Please read our disclosure for more info.
Belgian photographer Julien Lanoo’s recent photo series captures both the impressive outer form and the cavernous interior of the National Museum of Qatar. The stunning images showcase the breathtaking architectural work photographed from the vantage point of a human, allowing us to imagine viewing the locale in person.
The National Museum of Qatar was designed by Ateliers Jean Nouvel from the inspiration of a desert rose. It is comprises intersecting and cantilevering disks that are carefully rotated and arranged to form an abstracted rose with an inner courtyard. Nouvel has said that the building is inspired by three critical narratives that define Qatar: the land and its people, the coastal and desert influences, and the country’s radical rise to economic prosperity. All three elements are expressed in the finished building to both functionally and architecturally serve as a monument to the history of Qatar.
"Generative Design combines parametric design and artificial intelligence together with the restrictions and data included by the designer. According to Celestino Soddu, a researcher at the Politecnico di Milano, “it is a morphogenetic process that uses structured algorithms like non-linear systems to obtain unique and unrepeatable results, executed by an idea code, as in nature” . The analogy with nature illuminates some important parallels. Taking the example of a tree, a large trunk that is wider and stronger at the base resists all the pressure and tension caused by the wind and its own weight. From there, several other increasingly thin branches emerge, culminating at last in the leaves. There are no leftover materials, and the forms adopted are the most suitable for their habitat. In places with a lot of wind, the composition of the tree will be very different from that of another in a sandy soil, differentiated by a process of natural selection occurring over millions of years. This same reasoning can be used in art, design, and architecture".