Design Doha Announces Five Winning Public Design Commissions to Be Presented this Fall

Design Doha has announced the five winning Public Design Commissions that will be unveiled as part of the second edition of the biennial, running from 5 November 2026 to 31 January 2027. Located in Fereej Al Asmakh, the installations draw on regional approaches to water, materials, craft, climate and the built environment. 

The five commissions are Salsabil by Meriem Chabani / NEW SOUTH; Palm Construct by Abdalla Almulla; Cooling Pots by Haitam Daoudi and Oscar Cruz / +.atelier; Shoreline by platau | platform for architecture and urbanism; and Falajscape by Studio By Three’s Eugenio Fernandez and Victor Nouman.

Supported by Qatar’s Public Works Authority (Ashghal), the programme was developed following an open call across the MENASA region, encompassing the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. Ten designers, architects and urban practitioners were shortlisted in 2025, with five proposals now moving forward for realisation in the programme’s first stage. Each project was shaped through research, design development and close engagement with the city. Together, they translate time-tested methods of cooling water, working with local resources and adapting the environment into contemporary interventions for public space. 

The commissions were curated by Javier Peña Ibáñez, Curator of the Public Design Commissions and Director of Concéntrico, the International Festival of Design and Architecture in Logroño, Spain. 

The programme gives equal attention to the finished works and the processes behind them, recognising architects and designers alongside manufacturers, fabricators and local collaborators. In doing so, it reveals the skills, technical knowledge and networks behind each commission. 

Javier Peña Ibáñez said: “Public space is where design becomes part of everyday life. These commissions begin with knowledge that already exists within the region, from water systems and craft to materials and ways of responding to climate, and translating that knowledge into new forms for Doha today. The process behind each project is equally significant, including the people, skills and collaborations that allow an idea to become part of the city.”

Salsabil, by architect and urbanist Meriem Chabani and co-founder of NEW SOUTH, draws on Qatar’s heritage of water cooling and ceramic craftsmanship, combining traditional passive cooling techniques with contemporary urban misting. Constructed from ceramic spheres that function as architectural bricks, the installation features pillars that can be arranged individually or as semicircular mist curtains, creating cooler, pedestrian-friendly public spaces.

Palm Construct, by Emirati architect Abdalla Almulla, turns to the date palm as both material and structure. Using mathematical and parametric design methods, Almulla reshapes rigid palm elements into fluid forms informed by traditional palm weaving, opening new architectural possibilities for one of the region’s most familiar natural resources.

Cooling Pots, by Haitam Daoudi and Oscar Cruz / +.atelier, draws on earthenware vessels traditionally used across the region to store and cool water, adapting those principles into a larger passive-cooling installation designed for Doha’s climate.

Shoreline, by platau | platform for architecture and urbanism, traces Doha’s former coastline, reshaped by decades of land reclamation. Emerging from a bed of sand, the installation combines modular wooden elements, timber columns, sail-like canopies and maritime ropes. Its construction takes cues from traditional dhow building, including the use of African teak historically associated with these vessels.

Falajscape, by Studio By Three’s Eugenio Fernandez and Victor Nouman, reinterprets the falaj, the gravity-fed irrigation system used for centuries across the Arabian Peninsula, as a contemporary spatial intervention linking water infrastructure, civic space and regional knowledge.



In addition to these commissions, Design Doha 2026 will feature more than 20 exhibitions and the work of more than 100 multidisciplinary designers and studios from across MENASA and its diasporas. Highlights include Arab Design Now 2026, curated by Noura Al Sayeh, featuring 81 designers, 78 new commissions and 17 films. Participants represent 27 countries and work across more than 15 disciplines, including architecture, furniture, product design, craft, urbanism, sound and social design.

Tickets for Design Doha Biennial 2026 are available now via the Qatar Museums website.

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