doha land

(c) Maher Attar/Gulf-times

The Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani yesterday evening attended the groundbreaking ceremony of Dohaland’s signature project, renaming ‘Heart of Doha’ as ‘Musheireb’, given the historical significance and importance of the area.

The QR20bn ‘Musheireb’ project will be completed in five phases, with the first phase due for completion by 2012. The entire project is due to be completed by 2016.

The unique groundbreaking ceremony also witnessed H H Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, Chairperson of Dohaland, reviving an age-old Qatari tradition by leaving her handprint on the cornerstone of the ‘Musheireb’ project.

The inspirational ceremony, which marked the beginning of construction of Phase 1A of the ‘Musheireb’ project, drew from the rich history of Qatar, encompassing the country’s desert, maritime and architectural heritage.

In a televised address during the ceremony, Sheikha Mozah said: “Our past clearly reflected that communities in Qatar have always been close-knit. People lived and worked together in harmony with the climate, with the land and with each other. We had our own ways of dealing with our environment which was sustainable and human in scale, and thus, our architecture reflected the unity of our family’s identity.”