dutch design
Qatar Foundation, which has given several firsts to the country and playing a key role in elevating its global profile, is embarking on yet another landmark project, to create a unique garden consisting almost entirely of native Qatari plants.
The work on the proposed garden to surround the upcoming headquarters of QF and Central Library in Education City, is slated to begin in November this year and due for completion in 2011.
“The design is by Inside Outside, a Dutch design studio founded and headed by Petra Blaisse,” QF’s monthly magazine The Foundation has revealed.
Described as the only designer in the world working successfully in both textiles and landscaping, she was the first professional speaker at this year’s Icograda Design week hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar.
Although based in Europe, Blaisse’s company has years of experience of working on projects across the Gulf.
“I have spent a lot of time in the Gulf, in places like Qatar, Dubai and Sharjah, and the planting in the cities is beautiful, but the plants are completely foreign,” she told The Foundation.
Blaisse points out that except for a few date palms, they were all imported. “It is beautiful and colourful, so it is not a criticism on my part at all, but we are trying to achieve the same effect in a way that educates people about the local culture.”
Rather than looking for plants that, while they might not grow in Qatar, are available in the region, Inside Outside insisted that as much of the garden as possible consist of plants that already grow in the country.
“Even in the desert in Qatar you have different conditions, amounts of water, kinds of soil and so on, and we are trying to transport that, not literally but as an idea, into an urban situation,” she explains.
The result, rather than one single garden, is a grid pattern of Travertine (a mineral consisting of a massive usually-layered calcium carbonate, as aragonite or calcite, formed by deposition from spring waters or especially from hot springs) planters.
Those on the eastern edge will be the largest, containing several different species. Moving west the planters become smaller and smaller, until they contain just one type of plant.
As well as being in different sizes, each planter will receive different amounts of water, with those to the north, around the headquarters building, receiving large amounts of moisture, while those furthest south will receive very limited irrigation.
Part of the reason for using planters, rather than one big garden, is because the site is on top of an underground car park, which limits how deep the roots can grow.
Raised planters give the plants more room to grow. Dividing the garden into self-contained areas means visitors can see how the same species reacts to different conditions, reflecting the enormous variations between Qatar’s dry summers and the rainy season.
source:
gulf times
The work on the proposed garden to surround the upcoming headquarters of QF and Central Library in Education City, is slated to begin in November this year and due for completion in 2011.
“The design is by Inside Outside, a Dutch design studio founded and headed by Petra Blaisse,” QF’s monthly magazine The Foundation has revealed.
Described as the only designer in the world working successfully in both textiles and landscaping, she was the first professional speaker at this year’s Icograda Design week hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar.
Although based in Europe, Blaisse’s company has years of experience of working on projects across the Gulf.
“I have spent a lot of time in the Gulf, in places like Qatar, Dubai and Sharjah, and the planting in the cities is beautiful, but the plants are completely foreign,” she told The Foundation.
Blaisse points out that except for a few date palms, they were all imported. “It is beautiful and colourful, so it is not a criticism on my part at all, but we are trying to achieve the same effect in a way that educates people about the local culture.”
Rather than looking for plants that, while they might not grow in Qatar, are available in the region, Inside Outside insisted that as much of the garden as possible consist of plants that already grow in the country.
“Even in the desert in Qatar you have different conditions, amounts of water, kinds of soil and so on, and we are trying to transport that, not literally but as an idea, into an urban situation,” she explains.
The result, rather than one single garden, is a grid pattern of Travertine (a mineral consisting of a massive usually-layered calcium carbonate, as aragonite or calcite, formed by deposition from spring waters or especially from hot springs) planters.
Those on the eastern edge will be the largest, containing several different species. Moving west the planters become smaller and smaller, until they contain just one type of plant.
As well as being in different sizes, each planter will receive different amounts of water, with those to the north, around the headquarters building, receiving large amounts of moisture, while those furthest south will receive very limited irrigation.
Part of the reason for using planters, rather than one big garden, is because the site is on top of an underground car park, which limits how deep the roots can grow.
Raised planters give the plants more room to grow. Dividing the garden into self-contained areas means visitors can see how the same species reacts to different conditions, reflecting the enormous variations between Qatar’s dry summers and the rainy season.
source:
gulf times
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