Project Description
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Client Doha
Project Doha Pearling Museum
Diving into History
Challenge
“Life at sea requires endurance and patience, as well as courage in the face of dangers and horrors of diving.” Our Client wanted to dedicate a museum to the traditional livelihood of pearl diving through true stories related by a master diver who had experienced the dangers and challenges of collecting pearls.
Interpretation
A museum is a repository of information but it also has the potential to take a visitor back in time and become one with history. We viewed this as an opportunity to create a sensory storyline, allowing the visitors to immerse themselves in a pearling dive through the reconstruction of the experience.
Solution
The built-form has been visualised in three levels. The visitors enter the museum experience by elevator to the highest level. On entering, they witness a breathtaking sight of a ship lit from below, appearing to be sailing on a blue glowing sea. They walk alongside the master diver as a young boy who narrates the experience through a busy market town, and the excitement and trepidation of preparing for the diving season. The visitors descend to the next level in a transparent tube in a surround 360 ocean experience to understand the intricacies of preparation, the fear of the first dive, the dangers in the ocean without the support of high-tech equipment and finally the recognition of quality pearls. A detailed museum of artefacts at the lowest level of the museum explains the trade and the reasons for its decline.
