Dutch architecture practice UNStudio has collaborated with the Qatar Rail Architecture Department to create 37 stations for the driverless Doha Metro system, which has opened in Qatar.
Consisting of three lines that radiate out from the Msheireb station in the downtown area of Qatar's capital city, the stations on the driverless metro system are united by a design language created by UNStudio and the Qatar Rail Architecture Department.
Aiming to be modern, but reflect the city's history, the stations are all designed to be vaulted spaces.
Top: Msheireb station is the network's interchange. Above: vaulted spaces within Msheireb station
"It was important that the design represent both modernisation and preservation," UNStudio told Dezeen. "The challenge was to reference local, traditional architectural heritage, while reinterpreting this into a contemporary design language that represents Qatar today," it continued.
"The vault was chosen as this referential bridge between past and present."
Msheireb station's vaults are based on a modular system
Each of the stations was built from parametrically designed, curved modular elements that can be assembled on a triangular grid so that the structure could be adapted for each station's location, size and capacity.
UNStudio and Qatar Rail Architecture Department outlined the form and arrangement of these modular elements, along with numerous details including interior finishes, layouts, wayfinding and fur...