Doha Debates Questions Whether Modern Architecture Contributes to Cultural Decline

This week, Qatar Foundation’s Doha Debates examines how architecture reflects and shapes cultural values on their flagship show, Doha Debates. The second episode of the new season asks: Has modern architecture redefined beauty and tradition, or contributed to its decline?

Moderated by Dareen Abughaida, the debate brings students from across Qatar with experts from around the world: Marwa Al-Sabouni, Syrian architect and author of The Battle for Home; Tariq Khayyat, founder of T.K. Architects and former director at Zaha Hadid Architects; Carl Korsnes, philosopher and editor-in-chief of Sivilisasjonen magazine; and Bidisha Sinha, associate director at Zaha Hadid Architects.

Korsnes and al-Sabouni argue that the 20th-century modernist paradigm stripped architecture of its soul. Abstraction and alienation replaced ornamentation, harmony, and human scale. Al-Sabouni draws from her experience rebuilding Homs in post-war Syria. Reflecting on how architecture shapes social cohesion, she warns, "The architectural idiom that we have adopted has embodied a cultural decline and an intellectual decline that has created the emptiness we see today."

In contrast, Sinha defends modern architecture as an evolving art form that redefines beauty for a new era. “Modernist architecture is more steered towards ideology rather than seeking beauty," she says.

Positioned between these poles, Khayyat calls for reconciliation between tradition and innovation. "I think we have lost touch with beauty,” he says. “We have lost touch with ourselves and how architecture plays an important role in enhancing our life experience."

As the debate unfolds, the experts and students wrestle with tensions between heritage and progress; local identity and global design; and timeless beauty versus evolving aesthetics. The conversation often returns to one shared conviction: Architecture is never neutral. It shapes how we live, the ideals we hold and how we connect to one another.

“Beauty is never just about what we see, it’s about what we value,” says Amjad Atallah, managing director of Doha Debates. “In this debate, young voices reminded us that architecture can distance us from our humanity or bring us closer to it. Their courage to question and reimagine what beauty means in the modern world shows exactly why these intergenerational dialogues matter.”

Filmed in Doha in the flagship program’s signature Majlis-style format, the episode embodies Doha Debates’ commitment to open, truth-seeking dialogue and fostering empathy and understanding across cultures and ideologies.

Watch the full episode on DohaDebates.com and the Doha Debates YouTube channel.

Doha Debates
Website: DohaDebates.com
X/Twitter: @DohaDebates
Instagram: @DohaDebates
YouTube: YouTube.com/DohaDebates

TikTok: @DohaDebates

About Doha Debates

Doha Debates engages a vanguard of intellectually curious truth-seekers to constructively debate differences in order to build a better future. We emphasize unity over division, encouraging conversations that bring us together rather than drive us apart.

Learn more at DohaDebates.com.