Six graduating projects to receive the Omrania | CSBE Student Award for Architectural Design141 entries were submitted for the 2015 eighth cycle of the Omrania | CSBE Student Award for Architectural Design. Of these 130 qualified for the Award. The qualifying entries came from 23 universities from nine countries in the Arab world: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
The Award jury consisted of Jordanian architect Hani Imam Hussaini, Founder and Director of Almarsam Architects & Engineers in Amman and former Partner and Head of Architecture at Omrania & Associates, and director of its Jordan office; Spanish architect Josep Lluís Mateo, Founder of the architectural practice mateoarquitectura in Barcelona and Professor of Architecture and Design at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich; and Iranian-American designer Nader Tehrani, Dean of the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of Cooper Union in New York City, former Professor and Head of the Department of Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Principal of the architectural practice NADAAA in Boston.
The Award jury members met in Amman on October 2 and 3, 2015 to evaluate the participating entries and to select the winners. They identified sixteen shortlisted entries and selected from amongst them three first-place winners, each of which is to receive USD 3,000; three second-place winners, each of which is to receive USD 2,000; and six honorable mentions.
First Prize Winning Projects (in alphabetical order):
Adventure Center
By: Badria Niaz Nazmi al-Hakim
Instructor: Ahmed Freewan
Jordan University of Science and Technology
Tale't al-Qarya Interfaith Caves
By: Afaf Zaied al-Odetallah
Instructor: Yasir Saqr
Jordan University of Science and Technology
The Incubatrix: Vertical Farming Production and Research Center
By: Mais Emad Abu Ali, Winny George Habash, and Ysr Ahmad
Instructor: Saleem Dahabreh
University of Jordan
Second Prize Winning Projects (in alphabetical order):
Desert Exploration Center
By: Ayman Jamal Abu-Hamdiyah
Instructor: Sana`a Rqeibat
Jordan University of Science and Technology
Stitching the Pockets, Khan Amman
By: Afnan Rafeeq Adnan Barqawi
Instructor: Tha'er Qub'a
German Jordanian University
The House of Music / Zahle
By: Najib Nicolas Imad al-Ghossein
Instructor: Jean-Marc Bonfils
Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts
Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order):
Bayt al-Kasid
By: Zahraa Jamal Makke
Instructor: George Arbid
American University of Beirut
Futuristic City
By: Habib Bitar, Halla al-Fahmawi, and Rawan Mohammad A. Mahmoud
Instructor: Mohammed Bilbeisi
American University of Sharjah
Museum Narrating the Palestinian Conflict - Disjunction of the Lemon Tree
By: Fawwaz Aleef S. Abdul Hadi
Instructor: Majd al-Homoud
German Jordanian University
Solid Waste Recycling Complex
By: Khaldoun Ewaiwi and Rula Alkhalili
Instructor: Shaden Qasem
Birzeit University
The Animation Park
By: Duliana Nawaf al-Sahawneh, Mays Abdullah Asa'd Abdullah , and Sana Atheer al-Izzawi
Instructor: Wa'el al-Azhari
University of Jordan
The Liberty of Soul
By: Yara Ahmed Abdularahman al-Qutub
Instructor: Asma Bataineh
Jordan University of Science and Technology
The other shortlisted entries consist of the following projects (in alphabetical order):
Al-Baqa'a Exile Memorial
By: Nisreen Ehlyel Jaber Shdefat
Instructor: Ahmad Freewan
Jordan University of Science and Technology
Beth Medinha - The House of the Levant
By: Ali Khodr
Instructor: Sinan Hassan
American University of Beirut
Interfaith Spiritual Center
By: Wala' Mahmoud Mohammad Ayyad
Instructor: Yasid Abed Rego
Birzeit University
Vertical Refugee Camp
By: Rejena Hani Nasraween
Instructor: Tha'er Qub'a
German Jordanian University
An Award ceremony and exhibition is held for each cycle to honor the winners and to exhibit the participants' graduation projects. The Award ceremonies and exhibitions have been held in different cities in the Arab world, including Amman, Beirut, Sharjah, Irbid, and Manama. The Award ceremony and exhibition for this cycle will be held in Amman in December 2015.