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Ailyn Agonia
Doha
NORTHWESTERN University in Qatar (NU-Q) celebrated the dedication of its new home at a grand ceremony attended by Qatar Foundation (QF) Chairperson Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser in Doha on Monday.
Northwestern President Morton Schapiro and NU-Q Dean and CEO Everette E Dennis led the gathering in the university's Events Hall, the largest sound stage in the Middle East.
"As President of Northwestern, I can tell you, nothing makes me prouder than to have a campus here in Doha producing graduates who are skilled in journalism, filmmaking and communication and carry the name of our university far and wide as they use their skills for the betterment of mankind," Schapiro remarked.
The NU-Q dean added:"NU-Q's new building offers not just modern media teaching and production facilities which are unique to the region, but a platform for our students to experiment, create and dream. Educating our students to harness the power of the digital age, will enable them to act as instruments of positive social change and make a significant impact on their societies."
On the occasion, Dennis recognised HH Sheikha Moza's leadership with a gift of painting commissioned by Judy Ledgerwood, a professor of art at Northwestern University.
In her speech, US Ambassador to Qatar HE Dana Shell Smith underscored the vibrant relationship between Qatar and the US with the presence of six American universities in the country.
A theatre with a 4K cinema and 7.1 Dolby surround system, and a fully-automated newsroom housing some of the most advanced technology in broadcast and production are among the key features of the new NU-Q building.
At a symposium held prior to the official dedication of the new building, the principal architect Antoine Predock described the new facility as a 'permeable desert fortress'. He talked about his efforts to discover the cultural roots of Qatar while drawing inspiration from the natural formation of a Qatari desert in designing the building.
Predock also emphasised the importance of meeting the expectations of both Qatar Foundation and Northwestern University in his first project in the country. He said,"I think it is really important not to have a building that you understand in one visit. It should be something you discover gradually while it continuously surprises you."
NU-Q's 515,000 square-feet building features six state-of-the-art studio spaces including three production studios serving as a black box studio, a sitcom style studio and a studio with a fixed cyc green screen for animation. Its auditorium has a capacity of 150 people while the two-storey library houses 18,000 books and 13,000 DVDs of documentaries, TV shows and movies on media, filmmaking and related topics.
Another special feature of the facility is the Media Majlis, the first university museum in Qatar, which is slated to open in the autumn of 2018. The interactive museum will feature exhibitions exploring media, journalism and communication from the past, present and to the future.
The building's other highlights are 4K Director's Screening Room, 3D animation lab featuring its own render farm, nine 4k editing suites, two 24-seater computer labs with iMac 5K retina display and a large LED media-mesh-screen outside overlooking the main entrance.
During the session on 'Pushing the Boundaries: Making the Building Work for Us', Scott Curtis, director of the Communication Programme and associate professor in Residence at NU-Q, tackled how the features of the building including the glass walls reflect some of the pedagogical goals of the university.
Aside from the symposium, guests and other members of the media were given a guided tour around the building as part of the series of events held on the occasion.
