The Power of Culture

A series of conversations with Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and people who have been part of Qatar’s architecture & culture development journey. In this episode, Her Excellency hosts Dutch architect and professor at Harvard University, Rem Koolhaas. Koolhaas works like a conceptual artist, drawing on a seemingly endless reservoir of ideas. He is a co-founder of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), and among his most notable works are the CCTV Headquarters in Beijing (2012) and Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow (2014). Koolhaas is also an urban thinker who has designed masterplans for, among other places, suburban Paris, the Libyan desert, and Hong Kong. In Qatar, OMA is responsible for the National Library and the headquarters of the Qatar Foundation, both in Education City. He leads the team creating the future Qatar Auto Museum and is involved in the development of the Qatar Blueprint. He provides insight on his approach to architecture, projects, and the importance of sustainability and the transformation of existing buildings in his work. The discussion also centers Qatar's unique urban landscape, cultural diversity, and the overlap between art, architecture, and sports. The Power of Culture Podcast is a Qatar Creates production. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.