Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, HE Mr. Akbar Al Baker spoke about the importance of art and its influence throughout the development phases of Doha’s Hamad International Airport at the annual New York Times ‘Art for Tomorrow’ conference at the W Hotel in Doha.
H.E. Mr. Al Baker shared the creative vision and importance of the iconic art pieces purposefully selected and positioned across the various nodes and concourses of the airport.
He remarked: “Introducing an airport as a destination location in and of itself required significant design detail and influence. The vision of the airport was to make the experience like no other; comfortable, desirable and memorable. An important element of this was introducing art and design.”
Art and architectural features have been a hallmark since the opening of the airport, providing passengers with an ambiance of aesthetically pleasing, inspiring, functional spaces for quietude, rest, shopping, dining, and business purposes.
An iconic element of HIA is the highly acclaimed sculpture Lamp Bear by Urs Fischer that is positioned in the centre of the departures terminal, anchoring all of the various concourses and food and beverage outlets. The Lamp Bear sculpture has been in HIA since the opening in April 2014.