Gerhard Richter and Selldorf design hexagonal pavilion in Doha with vibrant facade patterns

Qatar Museums has announced plans for a permanent pavilion designed by German artist Gerhard Richter in Doha’s Museum of Islamic Art Park. The structure, developed by Richter with Selldorf Architects, is scheduled to open on November 20th, ahead of the inaugural Rubaiya Qatar contemporary art quadrennial.

Named the Doha Pavilion: Gerhard Richter, the project has been designed as both a freestanding artwork and a functional setting for a selection of Richter’s paintings and sculptures. The scheme’s hexagonal form comprises six exterior walls clad in printed panels featuring repeating patterns derived from Richter’s experiments with digital image manipulation.

The patterns trace their origins to Richter’s 1990 work Abstract Painting (724-4). Beginning in 2010, the artist digitally divided an image of the painting into increasingly narrow vertical strips, eventually producing 8,192 divisions that were mirrored and repeat...