With the 2022 World Cup underway, Jiwan has been named one of Qatar’s must visit destinations by media outlets around the globe.
Designed by Koichi Takada Architects, the restaurant is located inside the National Museum of Qatar in the capital Doha, and is the latest culinary offering from renowned French chef Alain Ducasse.
An essential chapter in the museum’s storytelling experience, Jiwan has dominated travel guides recently, with Forbes, GQ and Conde Nast all including it in their top attractions for football fans and tourists alike.
Jiwan’s contemporary menu offers a reflection on Qatar’s heritage and culture with Bedouin cooking methods that utilise nature’s elements – fire, water, air and earth – enhancing aromas and elevating flavours.
The Sunset Tea has been particularly popular since Jiwan opened, with visitors flocking to the fourth-floor restaurant to enjoyMiddle Eastern desserts and drinks in its sophisticated interiors.
Perfect pearl
Jiwan is one of six spaces designed by Koichi Takada Architects located within the National Museum of Qatar and works in harmony with Chef Ducasse’s menu.
In shaping its interiors, the Australian architecture firm was inspired by the country’s rich history. Qatar was once famous for its pearl diving, with generations of local fishermen commanding dhows – handmade wooden vessels – across the Persian Gulf.
“Throughout the design process, we learned a lot about Qatar’s culture and history,” explains principal Koichi Takada. “We drew inspiration from what the pearl represents in the country’s history and a significant cultural symbol with the word ‘Jiwan’ meaning ‘perfect pearl’ in Qatari.
To understand just how Koichi Takada Architectsdid that, it pays to look up. Glittering above diners’ heads are more than four million Swarovski crystals. These waves of shimmering gems flutter in the soft breeze – their subtle movement mimicking that of divers swimming underwater.
“As a Sydney-based studio, working with a French chef, we didn’t want Jiwan to feel out of place. But through many conversations with the Qatari people, our design evolved as we sought to take diners, both local and international, on a sensory journey, where they could truly feel, touch and taste the essence of Qatar,” he adds.
Where the desert meets the sea
Back on solid ground, Jiwan accommodates 130 guests in its dining room and 130 more on its terrace. Its walls are a luminescent rose-tinted white, curved like the organic shape of an oyster shell and reflecting the soft glow of the crystals overhead.
Plush armchairs in muted tones recreate the dunes of Khor Al Adaid (known regionally as the Inland Sea for its rolling landscape). Underfoot, the carpet shifts from the deepest orange to the lightest turquoise blue – thedesert sand meeting the saltwater sea.
“To us, Jiwan is a narrative of Qatar’s history and unique landscape,” continues Takada. “Its interiors are ‘desert-scapes’, carefully curated to tell the story of Qatar from its pearl trading roots through to its nomadic lifestyle andexceptional, undeveloped natural beauty.”
The restaurant also complements French architect Jean Nouvel’s overarching vision for the National Museum of Qatar and the other interior spaces designed by Koichi Takada Architects. This includes the museum’s magnificent gift shops, which have earned the Australian architect multiple international design prizes sinceopening in 2019.
Sunset views
Diners can catch a close-up glimpse of Nouvel’s desert-rose inspired forms on Jiwan’s magnificent outdoor terrace. Koichi Takada Architects turned once more to Khor Al Adaidas the inspiration for in the intimate dining pods, furnishing them with lush burgundy booths and burnished bronze tables.
Separated from one other by softly curved cream walls, these pods are the perfect spot to catch thefading dusk lightover the Persian Gulf and watch as the city comes alive to welcome visitors near and far for the 2022 World Cup.
- Certified LEED Gold. For carbon, energy, water, waste, transportation, materials, health and indoor environmental quality.
- Jiwan opens for lunch, Sunset Tea and dinner from 12:30pm to 8pm.
Team:
Architect: Koichi Takada Architects
Photography: Julien Lanoo, Victor BELLOT Photographe
