Our Studio Residents

TypeAraby

TypeAraby is an experimental platform dedicated to creating, preserving, and evolving Arabic typography and type design. It was founded by Basma Hamdy, a research-based designer, author, curator, and associate professor of Graphic Design at VCUarts Qatar. 

TypeAraby is a laboratory space for cultivating a contemporary vision for Arabic type while maintaining and promoting its traditional calligraphic roots as an important mechanism for language sustainability. 

The platform is a springboard for events, workshops, lectures, exhibitions, and publications that engage local, regional and international creative communities. TypeAraby is currently conducting research in the Liwan archival library, looking at the history of Arabic type through our vast children's book collection.

Qatar Preparatory School (QPS)

QPS is a vocational school for the creative industries currently in development under the auspices of Qatar Museums and Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. The school will provide Qatar Museums and its constituents training in various evolving creative practices. The school's facilities and workshops will include traditional and new fabrication technologies, ranging from large-scale 3D printers and virtual film production studios to ceramics, glassblowing, metal-working, and carpentry. The school aims to engage Doha's thriving creative community in design, debate, exploration, development, artefacts, and settings that respond to Qatar's existing and future needs and the world beyond. 

Al Mafyar 

Nestled on one of the most scenic beaches in Qatar, the resort is surrounded by a series of 15 dwellings that was once a fishing village tracing back to 1958. The project's development will have minimal impact on the surrounding environment, creating an ecologically and socially sensitive development.

The concept is based on a combination of protection and regeneration, renovating and staying true to the original structure while differentiating the added buildings in a subtle approach to blend into the overall context. 

The general layout of the village will be preserved, inviting guests to meander through the alleys and explore the neighbourhood, while the local community will have an opportunity to feel connected to the village. By hosting cultural and artistic events, we hope more people will uncover this unique heritage site.