oa Digitizing vanishing heritage in the MENA region: Case of Qatar

Traditional buildings in Qatar and the Gulf countries, in general, are parts and components of a series of Islamic building styles, which, indubitably have adopted some of the construction and architectural styles left by preceding civilizations. Compared to other areas of the Islamic world, there appears to be very little and scarce research about the traditional architecture of Qatar. It can be argued that Qatar's architecture is not representative of the whole of the Gulf, but it is believed that it provides a reasonable place to look at if for no other reason than that it might be later compared with the architecture of other areas of the MENA region. It is also important to document what is still there - and what can be remembered - as there is now a tremendous threat of disappearance of what is left from the Qatari traditional architecture. Rostron notes this in his work on Qatar changes and development; “Although the transformations accomplished in Qatar since 1995 are quite revolutionary in essence, they have been carried out as cautiously as possible, given the country's less than progressive character” (Rostron, 2009, P. 221). This paper presents major findings and outcomes of investigative archival retrieval and fieldworks as part of a research project (UREP# 10-068-6-007) funded by the Qatar National Research Funds (QNRF) under its Undergraduate Research Experience Program UREP.