Al-Attiya Gate — Palimpsest of Memory
The Al-Attiya Gate stands alone in District 13, Msheireb — today at the center of an empty parking lot, once the threshold to a grand courtyard house. This gate is one of the few remaining fragments of Qatar’s early modern architectural heritage, linked to the Al-Attiya family and belonging to what architect Ibrahim Mohamed Jaidah has described as the “Arabian Deco” phase: a synthesis of traditional Islamic motifs with modern influences that arrived during the oil boom era.
Its hand-crafted details — gypsum ornamentation and wrought ironwork of palm trees, vegetation, three-dimensional flowers, and geometric patterns — once embodied hospitality and prosperity. Historic photographs suggest the original house grew incrementally around a tree-shaded courtyard until its demolition in 2022, leaving only the gate behind.
The Proposal
Our project preserves the gate’s memory while embracing its suspended state between presence and absence. Rather than reconstructing the demolished house, we reimagine it as a public, open-air courtyard park — a contemporary landscape of platforms and experiences that encircle, but never touch, the gate. This creates a dialogue between two worlds: the tangible remnant that anchors the site, and the imagined archaeology that unfolds around it like a contemporary carpet inspired by Arabian Deco motifs.
Materiality and Climate Response
Design strategies draw from Doha’s climate and material heritage, grounding the project in sustainability and resilience.
Rammed earth platforms form the base of the park, echoing the tones of Doha’s soil while offering natural thermal regulation.
Cooling Hive Walls, crafted from terracotta cylinders cooled with recycled water, lower temperatures by up to six degrees.
A suspended terracotta canopy with an integrated coolant grid diffuses sunlight and generates pleasant microclimates.
Living green walls soften the urban heat, improve air quality, and provide herbs and vegetables for community use.
Spaces Rooted in Vernacular Tradition
The spatial sequence draws on Qatari domestic typologies, translated into contemporary communal functions. Visitors enter from the east through a shaded passage recalling the wells of traditional homes. This leads to an outdoor library, enclosed by C-shaped terracotta cooling walls, with a tree and communal table at its center for reading or workshops. A stepped plaza becomes the majlis, hosting performances and public gatherings.
Further within, a community kitchen and long table invite shared meals beneath gardens of edible plants. The liwan, reimagined as a shaded social zone, introduces large-scale traditional games and collective seating. At the heart lies the central courtyard — a flexible, open space with shaded areas, playgrounds, and room for gatherings.
A Living Palimpsest
“This is not a reconstruction, but a living palimpsest where heritage and imagination coexist. By transforming a forgotten threshold into a vibrant community park, the proposal revives the convivial spirit of the original house in contemporary form — a place of gathering, play, exchange, and collective memory at the heart of Doha’s urban fabric.”