Each piece, CNC-cut in Italy is entirely unique, fitting only with its exact complementary piece. The site assembly was an engineering and assembly challenges that was skilfully executed on-site by Italian master carpenter, Claudio Devoto and his team of artisans. The 40,000 pieces were individually en-coded with a visual number and guideline, assembled by hand, piece by piece without visual fixings. The Museum Gift Shops are a culturally rich response to the National Museum of Qatar’s curatorial mission – Heritage meets Innovation.

The intensity of the design and craftsmanship pays homage to Jean Nouvel's desert rose inspired architecture and celebrates the natural Qatari heritage of the desert-scape. One of the biggest challenges was dealing with the complexity and monumental scale of the museum design, a 53,000 square-meter agglomeration of interlocking. There were no straight lines; all curved creating very complex spaces internally. Working within these parameters, the shop interiors reproduce the geometries and chromatism of the desert-inspired architecture on a human scale.

The National Museum of Qatar was also the first national museum in the world to receive both a LEED Gold and a 4-STAR (Global Sustainability Assessment System) sustainability rating. The shop interiors were constructed from European Oak, a conscious decision because of its renewable green credentials that aligned with the sustainable goals of the museum. Credits: - Devoto Design - Carpenter - Claudio Devoto - Koichi Takada Architects - Interior Designer - Koichi Takada