The Omrania | CSBE Student Award for Excellence in Architectural Design sixth cycle ceremony at the German Jordan University’s Othman Bdeir House for Architecture and Design
In collaboration with the German Jordanian University, a ceremony honoring the five winning projects of the Omrania | CSBE Student Award for Excellence in Architectural Design took place at the German Jordanian University’s Othman Bdeir House for Architecture and Design in Amman, Jordan on January 7, 2014. The ceremony program included introductory remarks by Natheer Abu Obeid, President of the German Jordanian University; Mohammad Yaghan, Dean of the School of Architecture and Built Environment at the German Jordanian University; Basem Al Shihabi, Managing Partner of Omrania & Associates; and Mohammad al-Asad, Director of the Center of the Study of the Built Environment. These were followed by awarding the winning students their certificates, presentations by the winning students of their projects, and a screening of the Award’s sixth cycle film “Arab Women in Architecture.” The film features stories on the experiences, challenges, and achievements of Arab women architects. The film will shortly be available online.
The ceremony was followed by a reception and the inauguration of the exhibition that features the winning projects of the six Award cycles and a selection of projects submitted for the 2013 sixth Award cycle.
The Omrania | CSBE Student Award for Excellence in Architectural Design was initiated in 2008 by Omrania & Associate and the Center for the Study of the Built Environment. It is open to all graduating students of architecture from the universities of the Arab world, who submit their graduation projects to participate in it. The Award provides a unique opportunity for recognizing and encouraging excellence in teaching architectural design, and also in honoring recently-graduating students as well as their instructors and universities. It also promotes healthy competition among architectural programs in the Arab world, and helps focus attention on the process of architectural education there, identifying relevant opportunities and challenges.
The Award has been growing and expanding over its six-year existence, and it provides a very useful indicator in helping assess the quality of architectural education in the Arab world and in encouraging students, teachers, and programs of architecture to further enhance existing skills and resources. 150 projects from 37 universities from nine Arab countries (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates) were submitted to the sixth cycle of the Award. The Award’s jury met in Amman on September 30, 2013 and October 1, 2013. The jury members consisted of Shahira Fahmy, founder of Shahira Fahmy Architects in Cairo; Bernard Khoury, founder of DW5/Bernard Khoury in Beirut; and Murat Tabanlıoğlu, co-founder of Tabanlıoğlu Architects in Istanbul. They awarded equal winning prizes to five projects. The winners are as follows:
Nassmah al Ghoussein
Project: Treading the Line, Beirut's Interactive Hackerspace
American University of Beirut
Instructor: Karim Nader
Renall Elghoul
Project: All senses pavilion - Experience box
Birzeit University
Instructor: Shaden Qasem
Haneen Khouli
Project: Machine in an empty and vast territory - Tension of permanence
American University of Sharjah
Instructor: George Katodrytis
Parastoo Najafi
Project: CRYSTAL [DE]FORMATION
American University of Sharjah
Instructor: George Katodrytis
Ahmad Yehya
Project: Home for Bedouins, Lebanon
American University of Beirut
Instructor: George Arbid
The winning projects, the jury report, and the submitted entries for this Award cycle will shortly be made available on the Award’s website.
Word by Natheer Abu Obeid, President of the German Jordanian University
Screening of the “Arab Women in Architecture” film
The Award exhibition
Jury meetings of the 2013 Sixth Cycle of the Award