Education City

The Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies [QFIS], in Doha, undertakes pioneering work in the field of Islamic studies, the Arts, Architecture and Contemporary Islamic Society. The progressive agenda for QFIS led us to explore innovative building proposals based on historical Islamic precedents. The scheme also relates in part to Qatar as a geo-political centre and a place where Contemporary Islamic Identity is actively debated.

The building will provide a new home for QFIS and will also accommodate the Education City campus mosque. In a programmatic sense, The QFIS scheme explores the relationship of ‘Knowledge and Light’ where the Qur’an places an emphasis on the importance of knowledge in order to reach enlightenment. The scheme is thus organized in plan as a spiral arrangement of teaching room and faculty offices which lead eventually to the Mosque.

The scheme also establishes four Islamic gardens around the perimeter of the building and a calligraphic courtyard in the centre. Classrooms and external elevations are provided with a ribbon of calligraphy which ‘binds’ the various elements of the building program through Qur’anic verse.