The roundabout on Saad Bin Abi Waqas Street in the Mamoura area has a miniature fortress. Pic : Qassim Rahmatullah/ The Peninsula
The Public Parks Department at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment has done up a small roundabout on Saad Bin Abi Waqas Street with a replica of an ancient Qatari fortress as part of a campaign to beautify cities across the country.
“We designed this roundabout a year ago with the aim to revive Qatari heritage and to beautify cities that have no green areas. Many roundabouts need an aesthetic touch,” Mohammed Ali Al Khori, Director of Public Parks Department, told The Peninsula.
“We are planning to incorporate more such traditional designs at roundabouts, not necessarily fortresses. We will apply different aesthetic touches in various places. The size will depend on the space. If the roundabout is big, it will be big,” he added.
“What is good about this fortress is that the soil which was used to construct it came from the roundabout itself, in addition to other materials which are friendly for the environment,” Al Khori said.
Al Khori added: "Because the roundabout is very small, the fortress was scaled to its size because we don’t want to hinder traffic movement. The area was 220sqm and it took 25 days and 1,400 working hours to build it."
Engineer Issam Hado of Public Parks Department said, “We have many other suggestions and models like Qatar’s map and Cup." He said that the department is planning to build new parks in various designs such as butterfly and folded sheets.
"This year we just want to finish the ongoing projects, and from next year new designs will be prepared. We will then see whether authorities concerned approve them or not," he said.
These designs depicting cultural heritage are also winning peoples' appreciation. "It is nice to see such a mini-fortress at a roundabout instead of travelling to the outskirts of the city to have glimpse of fortresses or to visit a museum," said Rajesh, an expatriate.
