Qatar has opened its iCONIC 2022 project, a mixed-use building formed from the numerals 2,0,2 and 2.
The building contains offices, gymnasiums, restaurants and a supermarket, and is located in Doha Sports City, close to the 40,000-capacity Khalifa Stadium that will host the quarter-finals of this year’s World Cup finals tournament.
Several designs were floated before the Qataris settled on spelling out the year, including one plan to reproduce the Jules Rimet trophy.
The building was conceived and developed by Nasser bin Hamad Al Thani and was designed by Ibrahim Jaidah, chief architect of Arab Engineering Bureau.
Al Thani, said: “We wanted to create a building related to the year and the generation that made the tournament happen. I want the building to stand as a beautiful memory.”
Jaidah, added: “It was a great idea – and one that presented a huge challenge. I treated it a little like a stadium – as they are structures that are usually photographed from an aerial view.
“I wanted to make sure the number could be seen from all angles – and that’s why the building has five faces, all showing the number 2022, so you can read it from all sides.”
