Samoo Architects & Engineers release proposals for reinterpret markets in Doha
This project is located in the historical district of old Doha on the northeastern intersection of Grand Hammad Street and Ali Bin Abdulla Street. Bu El Qubeb Mosques have been recently restored on the site in order to preserve its traditional style.
The goal of this project was to reinterpret the meaning of these traditional buildings, and to provide a solution for it to coexist in the urban fabric. The restored buildings were expanded to the level of the traditional streets, and were also connected to the surrounding areas in order to give it a new sense of place as the center of culture and society.
A traditional commercial street layer was laid out beneath the ground, like buried remains of the past, and connected to neighboring below grade facilities. A Festival Plaza connected to the mosques was laid out above it, revealing its identity as a public space towards the main street.
In order to create a similar below grade pedestrian environment as above grade, sunken gardens and skylights were designed around the plaza. The transition between the orthogonal grid during the day and the traditional grid at night makes it possible to experience the two coexisting conceptual layers.
Combining of the orthogonal plaza surrounded by low-rise buildings and the traditional streets underneath it can provide a solution to how tradition can be maintained in a modern city experiencing radical change.
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