141 architectural graduation projects from 34 Universities from 11 countries in the Arab World were submitted for the fifth cycle of the Omrania | CSBE Student Award for Excellence in Architectural Design. The projects came from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates.
The Award jury consisted of Khalid Omar Azzam, the director of the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts in London; Farrokh Derakhshani, the director of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, and Ahmad Humeid, the CEO of SYNTAX, a brand, design, and innovation firm in Jordan. The Award jury awarded equal winning prizes to five projects and selected four honorable mentions. The winners are as follows:
Dunia Abu Shanab
Project: Spatial Prosthetic, Dubai, UAE
American University of Sharjah
Instructor: George Katodrytis
Salsabeel Amin
Project: Street Book Community Park, Old Cairo, Egypt
American University in Cairo
Instructor: Zeinab Shafik
Nourhan El Badry
Project: Awareness through Experience... Connecting Solar Elements, Aswan, Egypt
American University in Cairo
Instructors: Magda Mostafa and Basil Kamel
Ghida Hachicho
Project: Looking Within, intervening in the old Saida town, Saida, Lebanon
American University of Beirut
Instructor: George Arbid
Rani Kamel
Project: Permeable Field of Education, Bourj Hammoud, Beirut, Lebanon
American University of Beirut
Instructor: George Arbid
The projects that received honorable mentions are as follows:
May Algody
Project: {REF}raction-lection, Dubai, UAE
American University of Sharjah
Instructor: George Katodrytis
Mona Shaar
Project: Mystic Intertwine, Art, Archaeology and Architecture, Jbeil, Lebanon
American University of Beirut
Instructor: Karim Nader
Rafat Tarabichi
Project: Joinery at the Frontier, the borderline between Turkey and Syria
International University of Science and technology
Instructor: Wael Samhouri
Saba Al Muhtaseb
Walaa Mazahreh
Yaman Amr
Project: The Living Voids, Amman, Jordan
University of Jordan
Instructor: Wael al Azhari
The Award Ceremony will be held at 5:00pm on Wednesday, December 5, 2011 at the Department of Architecture, College of Architecture, Art and Design at the American University of Sharjah. An exhibition of the winning projects of the Award’s five cycles as well as a selection of submitted entries for the fifth cycle will be held at the same location and will run from December 5, 2012 to December 12, 2012.
The Omrania | CSBE Student Award for Excellence in Architectural Design was initiated in 2008 to recognize distinguished architectural graduation projects among students of architecture at Jordanian universities. In 2009, the scope of the Award was expanded to include students of architecture from throughout the Arab World. The Award was founded by Omrania & Associates (O & A) and the Center for the Study of the Built Environment (CSBE). O & A is an architectural and engineering consulting practice based in Riyadh, with offices in Amman and Manama, and has more than 35 years of experience in the Middle East and Europe. CSBE is a non-profit, private study and research institution that aims at addressing the challenges that affect the built environment in Jordan and beyond.
The Award is intended to help focus attention on the process of architectural education in the Arab World. It aims at recognizing quality in the teaching of architecture and encouraging students to excel in their design performance. It provides an opportunity for honoring recently-graduating students as well as their instructors and universities, and for promoting a healthy environment of competition among architectural programs in the Arab world.
The Award has grown and expanded over its five cycles. Award ceremonies and exhibitions have been held in different cities in the Arab world, including Amman, Beirut, Dubai, Irbid, and Manama. The yearly Award ceremony is held to honor the winners and to exhibit their graduation projects to a wider audience.
Detailed information about the five cycles of the Award is available on the CSBE web site at www.csbe.org and the Award's website at www.omraniacsbeaward.org.