A quick look around the Corniche is all it takes to recognise the importance of great architecture in crafting a strong visual identity for a country. From the newly christened National Museum of Qatar to the iconic Museum of Islamic Art, the Hamad International Airport, the Sheraton, and the throng of buildings that populate the West Bay, there's no shortage of awe-inspiring, stunning buildings all around Doha. All this visual beauty is thanks to a handful of key architectural and engineering consultancy firms that work hand in hand to ensure that these timeless structures look great and function safely.
The job of an architect starts with an idea, often conceived years or decades before the building is ever constructed. Once an architect has a creative view of what they want to build, they begin to draw a plan of the building. Some architects go further and make cardboard or plastic models of the structure, to see how the different elements fit together. These days, with the emergence of computer software, architects can easily construct 3D models of their design with minimal effort. In crafting a design, the architect takes many factors into consideration. For one, they have to think about what building's purpose and function. How many people are going to use the building at the same time? What types of activities will these people do in the building? A hospital has different needs to an apartment complex. While an office building needs lots of compartmentalized rooms, a hotel needs more spacious rooms, an open-plan lobby, and a commercial kitchen, for example.
Good architects also spend a lot of time making sure a building is safely designed, and making sure the building will last for many years. A building that is not safely designed could catch on fire or fall down on itself, causing a massive loss of life and investment over time. Architects also have to take into consideration natural elements like rain, intense heat, snow, and earthquakes in constructing their designs.
Safety aside, architects also spend time thinking about the aesthetic of their designs. Just as a painter decides which paints to put where in a painting, an architect decides where to put the rooms, walls, and open spaces in a building, in a way that suits the building's purpose and the architects creative vision for the project. The best architects find ways of creating shapes and structures that wow audiences with their innovative use of materials, space, light, and other constructs.
Architects don't work in isolation. More often than not, a building is the product of numerous architects working together in a firm. Once a firm's client approves a design, the building plans are then sent to a construction company that in turn follows the directions of the plans for the building. At this point, the architect will closely supervise the construction company to make sure that the building is built according to the plans.
Architects have to be both good artists and good scientists when they design a building. Not only must their work be pleasant to look at and functional, it must also be and strong enough to be safe from most natural disasters, take substantial load, and withstand the test of time.
In joint architectural and engineering firms, both the design and fabrication of the project happens in-house. While architects are responsible for the building's design and aesthetics, engineers work on materials, structural integrity, and ensuring that everything is created keeping industry best practices in mind. These multi-disciplinary teams work in planning, design, construction and operation of buildings, such as analysis and integrated design of environmental systems (energy conservation, HVAC, plumbing, lighting, fire protection, acoustics, vertical and horizontal transportation), structural systems, behavior and properties of building components and materials, and construction management, marrying form and function under one operation.
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