Qatar has selected Lina Ghotmeh as the architect to create the permanent Qatar Pavilion for the Venice Biennale.
To be located in the Giardini, where France, Great Britain, the United States, and some other 30 countries have their pavilions, it will be only the third such structure to open in the Giardini in the past 50 years, after Australia and South Korea.
Principal of the Paris-based firm Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture, Ghotmeh has described her design philosophy as presenting an “Archeology of the Future,” which she “envisions [as] a research-driven approach, where innovative and sensitive designs are deeply rooted in history and materiality. Each project acts as a living palimpsest—where the past, present, and future coexist—promoting resilience, sustainability, and fostering a deeper connection between architecture, nature, and communities,” according to a release.
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In a statement, Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the chairperson of the Qatar Museums, which will manage the pavilion, said of Ghotmeh, “Her work is inspiring new and traditional audiences with its sensitivity to the human condition and its confident, innovative flair. Lina has a worldview and sensibility that has grown from her native Lebanon to reach across cultures. She has wholeheartedly embraced our vision for the Qatar Pavilion as a platform for the artistic, architectural, and cultural creativity of our nation and the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia.”
Last July, Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco announced a proposal for the pavilion as part of a deal between the city of Venice and the Qatar Museums. The Qatar Pavilion was confirmed earlier this year, though a date of completion has not yet been set. (The Pavilion will open a temporary structure on the site of the permanent pavilion next month as part of the Architecture Biennale.)
Ghotmeh was selected through an international competition by an advisory panel that included architects Alejandro Aravena, Georges Arbid, and Rem Koolhaas, who chaired the panel, as well as Zeina Arida, director of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, Jean-Paul Engelen, Americas president of Phillips auction house; New Museum artistic director Massimiliano Gioni; Catherine Grenier, the director of the Fondation Giacometti and concept director of the forthcoming Art Mill Museum in Doha; and Manuela Luca-Dazio, executive director of the Pritzker Architecture Prize.
According to a release, Ghotmeh was chosen “on the basis of a concept distinguished by its architectural clarity and thoughtful response to the Pavilion’s historic context, creating a cultural bridge between Qatar and the global community. Exemplifying architecture’s ability to engage with the public realm, the design blends seamlessly with the Pavilion’s immediate landscape and the larger environment. Taking into account the contemporary art and architecture that it will house, the interior will be flexible and adaptable, enabling exhibitors to transform the space into their own creative visions.” (The announcement, however, did not release further details on the design or any architectural renderings.)
Ghotmeh’s design for the Estonian National Museum in Tartu, completed in 2016, won that year’s AFEX Grand Prix, given by the French Architects Overseas; was nominated for the 2017 Mies Van Der Rohe Award; and won the 2018 Kenneth Hudson Award, given by the European Museum of the Year Awards to “celebrate courageous, at times controversial, museum practices that challenge and expand common perceptions of the role and responsibilities of museums in society,” according to its website.
In addition to the Estonian National Museum, Ghotmeh has designed the Palais de Tokyo’s Les Grands Verres restaurant, the Stone Garden Housing building in Beirut, the Hermès Workshops in Normandy, and the 2023 Serpentine Pavilion in London. (She was also responsible for the acclaimed exhibition design of Olga de Amaral’s retrospective at the Fondation Cartier in Paris.)
In addition to the forthcoming Qatar Pavilion, Ghotmeh is also working on the modernization of the Museum am Rothenbaum (MARKK) in Hamburg, Germany; the Bahrain Pavilion at the Osaka Expo 2025; the AlUla Contemporary Art Museum in Saudi Arabia, which is slated to open in 2032; and the Western Range galleries of the British Museum in London, planned for 2035.
In a statement, Ghotmeh said, “Qatar is a cultural beacon for the entire MENASA region. It is thrilling to be given this opportunity to design Qatar’s Pavilion on the historic grounds of the Giardini of La Biennale di Venezia.”