Edwin Heathcote, for FT.com – Qatar has seemed determined to provide a counterbalance to the turbo-charged skyline of Dubai which, before it fizzled out into a prickly line of unfinished skyscrapers, had overshadowed the whole Gulf. Recent headlines have been dominated by Qatar’s foreign investments, most notably in London’s property markets where the city’s three most visible and occasionally controversial schemes, the Shard, Chelsea Barracks and One Hyde Park, have been Qatari-backed.
At home, however, instead of allowing the country’s development to be driven solely by developers and the rental investment market, Qatar has led with ideas and culture. The opening of the Museum of Islamic Art, a commission that drew veteran architect IM Pei out of retirement to create his finest building for decades, began to awaken a realisation that Qatar was searching for something different from the superficial flash of the Emirates.
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