Qatar’s Mathaf Museum Announces Major Expansion, Led by Architect Lina Ghothem

Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha has tapped Lebanese architect Lina Ghothem to lead a major campus expansion. The news arrives as the Qatari institution celebrates its 15th anniversary, and figures into an ambitious phase of cultural development underway in the Arabian Gulf nation. 

“The Arab Museum of Modern Art is an unrivalled institution,” Ghothem said in a statement. “This expansion will offer a remarkable platform for presenting art and ideas, particularly by artists from our part of the world.”

Ghothem’s plan will deepen Mathaf’s research and education capabilities, and generally aim to foster richer social interactions between visitors, according to a statement from the institution. The ground floor lobby and library, for example, will be redesigned as an open space inspired by majlis (traditional, often exquisitely decorated, meeting rooms or parlors for receiving guests). The Mathaf library is a significant cultural space already, as it holds publications from across the region; the upgraded space will feature those titles along with ones from the Qatar Museums. Following the expansion, which includes an expanded cafe and book and gift shop, it will be conceptually repositioned as the heart of the museum campus. 

The atrium, meanwhile, will gain a new visual landmark: a monumental portrait by Yan Pei-Ming, to be displayed along with previously announced commissions dedicated to Qatar’s leaders. Later phases of the expansion will see the museum’s existing plaza and parking area transformed into studios for artists and designers, including shared facilities for ceramics, spaces for glass and material experimentation practices, and a sound studio created in collaboration with artist-composer Tarek Atoui.

Mathaf’s director, Zeina Arida, described the project as “a new chapter” in the museum’s history. “By expanding Mathaf’s programs and spaces to include residency studios, maker spaces and workshops, we are transforming the museum into a place where artists can also create,” she said.

The Mathaf commission is the latest in Ghothem’s portfolio for museums and exhibition spaces. She is currently at work on the Qatar Pavilion, a permanent structure in the Giardini for the Venice Biennale; the AlUla Contemporary Art Museum in Saudi Arabia; the Western Range galleries of the British Museum in London; and a renovation of the Museum am Rothenbaum (MARKK) in Hamburg, Germany. She has previously designed the Estonian National Museum, which opened in 2016.