Doha, Qatar
Eight years ago, Axel de Stampa and Sylvain Macaux of WEEK architecture proposed the “Qatar World Cup Memorial,” an evolving tower that questioned the number of workers who died during the construction of the 2022 FIFA World Cup stadiums in Qatar.
It is a tower made up of concrete modules, each representing a deceased worker.
The more the number of workers increased, the higher the tower grew.
The architects predicted a 1.5 km high memorial if the frequency of the number of deaths did not slow down.
Today, a few days after the kick-off of the 2022 World Cup, the project is updated, and the number is 6,751 deaths on the construction sites of the stadiums, with a memorial height of 4.4 km.
Since the end of 2010 and the designation of Qatar as the host country for the 2022 World Cup, no independent organization has been able to defend the rights of workers or count the exact number of deaths.
The right to strike and trade unions do not exist in Qatar and the only figures available are those of the Qatari authorities.
Between 2010 and 2019, 15,021 foreigners died in Qatar, of all ages and professions.
But this figure is not officially linked to the construction of World Cup stadiums.
Most of the workers are relatively young and healthy migrant workers who have passed their medical tests in their country of origin.
When they arrive in Qatar, they suddenly die of “natural causes,” cardiac arrest, or respiratory arrest.
Sunstroke, dehydration, or exhaustion, are some causes of sudden death after long hours of work in extreme heat.
“More than 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka have died in Qatar since it won the right to host the World Cup 10 years ago,” the Guardian revealed.
“The findings, compiled from government sources, mean an average of 12 migrant workers from these five south Asian nations have died each week since the night in December 2010 when the streets of Doha were filled with ecstatic crowds celebrating Qatar’s victory.”
“Data from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka revealed there were 5,927 deaths of migrant workers in the period 2011–2020. Separately, data from Pakistan’s embassy in Qatar reported a further 824 deaths of Pakistani workers, between 2010 and 2020.”
This scandal also questions the responsibility of FIFA.
It was not until 2017 that it published an important human rights policy.
But FIFA must find the legal means to impose respect for human rights in the host country.
Football is the most popular sport in the world and the World Cup is the most unifying event.
Qatar World Cup Memorial offers families from Nepal, India, and other nationalities a place of remembrance away from the cities and skyscrapers of Qatar.
Based on 4 modules per floor and 2 staircases per module, the project has a multitude of possible routes.
Project: Qatar World Cup Memorial
Architects: WEEK Architecture
Lead Architects: Axel de Stampa and Sylvain Macaux
