CLIENT: Doha Film Institute
DATE: October 2011
LOCATION: Doha, Qatar
PROJECT TYPE: Architectural, Engineering, Scenic
JEREMY THOM DESIGNS ROLE: Overall Project Designer
Following the 2010 Doha Film Festival where I designed an amphitheatre for film and live events, seven tented structures and some indoor gallery and cinema spaces, the 2011 event was even more ambitious. Both Festivals were held at Katara Village, an architectural facsimile of an Arab village built on a monumental scale with a white marble circular colliseum, a man-made beach and a collection of promenades, open areas, interior gallery spaces, restaurants and two Mosques.
The 2011 brief called for an amphitheatre to seat 2500, for both movie and live performances, built partially into the sea and housing a 20,000 ft² air conditioned dressing room facility below the stage. There was also a separate two storey press lounge and information centre, entirely sheathed in glass, to cater for upwards of 1000 people a day, with a Red Carpet linking it to the Amphitheatre, and another unconnected Red Carpet the other side of the site for the Royal Opera House. In addition there were three additional performance structures, four screening structures with a capacity of 150 each, a press interview and filing structure, and a Souk on the beach. ‘Backstage’ consisted of a full office space for 200 production management and crew team, and separately a structure for production catering with a full kitchen, equipment storage, and a full vinyl workshop where all printed vinyl masking and banners were custom built on site to fit the structures. All structures were custom built from the ground upand were designed to integrate into the architecture and general atmosphere of the Katara Village venue.