Imposing Simplicity

There is nothing timid about the ambitions of the new Museum of Islamic Art that opens [in Qatar] next week. Rising on its own island just off the citys newly developed waterfront corniche, it is the centerpiece of an enormous effort to transform Qatar into an arts destination. Designed by I. M. Pei, 91, who has described it as his last major cultural building, it recalls a time when architectural expression was both more earnest and more optimistic, and the rift between modernity and tradition had yet to reach full pitch. NYT | Slideshow