DEVAN SKUBAN

Al Nehem

Qatari Government for FIFA WOrld Cup

Location: Doha, Qatar

Fab.Pub recently delivered a 30-metre art installation, called Al Nehem, suspended between the four Lusail Towers to show Qatar’s concern about endangered species. The placement of the sculpture creates an engaging and impactful experience from close and far, a stone throw from the stadium that will host the World Cup Final a few days from now.

Fab.Pub was commissioned to design, fabricate and install the artwork by BWS. Our turn-key solution included 3D sculpting, posing, detailed technical design, engineering, material research, design to production, mixed reality fabrication and on-site installation of the work. The project was completed in a record time frame having a total of 4 months from concept to final delivery on time for the opening of the World Cup.

Fab.Pub’s design of the outer skin uses techniques found in Islamic arabesque pattern making to recreate the stunning detail found in the whale shark’s skin while referencing local tradition and craftsmanship. Our methodology is pioneering Mixed Reality Fabrication to form and assemble straight from holograms using an augmented reality headset leaving behind many constraints found in conventional fabrication approaches.

The 400m2 skin was broken down into 66 panels that were fabricated in only seven weeks by our team using a custom fabrication methodology developed from scratch for this project. The sculpture is made of a bespoke structural rebar mesh, cladded in marine grade stainless steel strips. The recycled content of rebar steel is close to 100% and the sculpture is nearly fully recyclable at the end of its life.