The Orbital Highway is a massive infrastructure project that will allow the territory of Qatar to be traversed from north to south. The200 kilometer linear highway will function in linking the desert mountains with the Salwa region. Partly running alongside the coast, it will stretch out to the west of Doha in a bypass road with the aim of relieving traffic congestion in the capital. In terms of its route, its layout, and its dimensions, the Orbital Highway is infrastructure at the geographical scale of a large landscape. It will be the means for immersing oneself within and experiencing the diversity of both the cultural and natural Qatari landscapes. The challenge of designing the landscape lies as much in the physical construction of a territorial continuity, as in developing how it will be approached and perceived.
The highway traverses six major landscape entities. Desert is followed by the salt marshes of the Persian Gulf coast, residential neighborhoods, the urban periphery of Doha, and the rawdats. The twenty-two gigantic traffic interchanges dotted up and down the Orbital Highway each represent a privileged moment in the greater linear sequence. On both sides of the infrastructures, the creation of an artscape allows for dialogue with the distant landscapes surrounding. Closer to the road, a series of six unique vegetal and topographical interventions demonstrate diversity, rendering perceptible their ecological and geomorphological characteristics.
Ashghal, public works authority
MDP Michel Desvigne Paysagiste
OMA urban planner, (lead consultant)
RWDI Sustainability
LICHT KUNST LICHT (LKL)
200 km