In yet another honor for the country, the iconic National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ) gift shops have been declared Jury Winner in the Commercial-Retail category of the prestigious  2020 Architizer A+Awards. 

The winners were announced yesterday at the Architizer A+Awards’ official website and social media accounts.

Founded on the premise of democratizing architecture, the A+Awards is considered the industry’s largest and most international awards program and honors the best architecture, spaces, and products from across the globe. 

With the theme “The Future of Architecture”, the eighth season of the awards elevates those designs that are transforming society and the built environment for generations to come.

NMOQ gift shops competed against four other finalists from the USA, Spain, and China for the Retail category of the Architizer A+ Popular Choice Awards that were determined by public voting.

This year’s edition of the annual A+Awards received over 5,000 entries from more than 100 countries, with a special emphasis on honoring projects that respond to imminent global challenges such as climate change, urbanization and migration, rising inequity, and pandemic. 

A Jury-selected Winner and a Popular Choice Winner were awarded in each of the 115 categories, with over 400,000 votes cast by the voting public.

National Museum of Qatar gift shops win prestigious Architizer A+ Awards#Qatarhttps://t.co/YLZ5LOT6hc

— The Peninsula Qatar (@PeninsulaQatar) August 5, 2020

The breathtaking design of NMoQ’s gift shops was inspired by Dahl Al Misfir (Qatar’s “Cave of Light”) which is a beautiful underground sanctuary formed largely from fibrous gypsum crystals that give off a faint, moon-like, phosphorescent glow.

Their organic architecture, designed by Koichi Takada Architects, reflects his vision of bringing nature back into architecture, establishing relationships that connect people and nature through design. 

The two awards, 'Best New Cultural Destination of the Year' (Middle East / Africa)' and 'Best Shop of the Year,' were presented to NMoQ representatives in 2019 at the Berlin Leading Culture Destinations (LCD) Awards.

NMoQ, which has been designed by Pritzker Prize-winning French architect, Jean Nouvel, was earlier named among the top 10 museums and cultural venues of 2019 by Designboom, a leading web magazine on art and architecture. 

The main gift shop stocks a large collection of well designed, exclusive gifts, many of which draw their inspiration from the history, heritage, and culture of Qatar.

The children’s gift shop offers a diverse range of locally designed souvenirs and gift items, including educational toys, books, puzzles, and games. Both gift shops are located on the first floor of NMoQ. Since their opening last year, the gift shops have already won a string of international awards in various categories including retail and interior design in 2019.

Earlier, in August 2019, the highly prestigious Time Magazine had also recognized the National Museum of Qatar as one of the World's 100 Greatest Places for 2019. 

In the United States, the gift shops were recognized as the Interior Design 2019 Best of Year Award winner for Mixed Retail and the winners of the Architecture MasterPrizeTM(AMP) Award for the Retail category.

In the United Kingdom, the gift shops won the 2019 World Interiors News (WIN) Awards in the Independent Shops or Small Chains category.

The gift shops also received the Gold Winner title by the Driven x Design 2019 Sydney Design Awards in Australia for Interior Design – Retail, a category that celebrates innovative and creative building interiors.

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Source Credit: Architizer Awards