Museum of Islamic Art, Doha

Designed by I.M. Pei and opened in 2008 on a dedicated island off the Doha corniche, this museum holds one of the world's foremost collections of Islamic decorative arts, spanning ceramics, metalwork, textiles, manuscripts, and jewellery from the seventh to nineteenth centuries. The building itself is a landmark of contemporary Islamic-influenced architecture, its geometric stone form rising from the water and evolving in appearance through the day as light conditions change. The atrium's geometric skylight is among the building's most photographed interior spaces.