Photo © Iwan Baan, sketch © OMA

Qatar National Library features in IGS Magazine’s Spring 2020, Special Middle East Issue, where we explore the intersection of culture, climate and curved glass.

Housing over a million books including ancient Arab-Islamic manuscripts, Qatar’s National Library in Doha is a haven for culture, research, study and collaboration along with some of the most important and rare texts in the Middle East. The library, commissioned by the Qatar Foundation, plays a central role in Education City, joining acclaimed research facilities and invoking a great sense of historical pride and belonging in the Arab world.

The corrugated-glass façade - a structurally robust system developed with Pritzker Prize laureate Rem Koolhaas and the team at OMA - insulates library visitors from the harsh Qatari climate, filters the bright natural light and creates a tranquil oasis in an otherwise challenging environment. The result is a visually stunning façade for a building of national significance which showcases the potential of laminated annealed curved glass.

IGS Magazine, Spring 2020 

The project showcases the structural potential of annealed glass, curved glass in extreme climates, and tight radii and associated complexities. Read the full article in IGS Magazine to learn more, including what’s next for curved glass.