ADU Architecture Students Awarded Prestigious Accolades in 2018
ADU is wrapping up an award-winning year for its Bachelor of Architecture students, who have been proud recipients of several prominent local and international awards during 2018.
Abu Dhabi University (ADU), an internationally recognized academic institution for quality education and applied research, is wrapping up an award-winning year for its Bachelor of Architecture students, who have been proud recipients of several prominent local and international awards during 2018. Among the most recent accolades is the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award, which was bestowed upon Maram Kassab and Mariam Ayoub, in recognition of their interactive pavilion entitled ‘Qasa’ed’. Presented under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Shamsa bint Hamdan Al Nahyan, this prestigious award is a result of a partnership between New York University and the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation. Regarded as one of the regional creative industry’s most prestigious awards, it aims to nurture artistic talent in the United Arab Emirates.
Speaking on their award-winning project, Maram Kassab said, “Being at ADU has not only taught us how to excel in our careers but also to love what we do and discover ourselves through it. The generous support from our dedicated faculty, and the solid design foundation we were equipped with, set us up for winning the Christo and Jeanne Claude award 2018. We are incredibly proud to have been recognized for our work, both locally and internationally. It was also an honor to meet Christo Claude personally and have the chance to view his latest work. Best of all, of course, was the chance to build and realize the design for our first pavilion, Qasa’ed.”
The award was presented by Her Excellency Huda I. Alkhamis-Kanoo, Founder of the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation and the Founder and Director of the Abu Dhabi Festival, in front of dignitaries and the national press.
The Qasa’ed design takes on the shape of a wooden pavilion that imitates sand dunes, showcasing the significance of the desert in the lives of Bedouin people. The project will be showcased at the NYUAD campus on 11 December and will be on public display at Umm Al Emarat Park in Abu Dhabi from 12-21 December. The interactive pavillion will then be transferred to Abu Dhabi University’s main campus where it will be displayed indefinitely.
Over the course of the past year, other students from ADU’s Architecture program have also been lauded for their efforts; translating abstract ideas into award-winning projects.
In October, a conceptual project known as the ‘Abu Dhabi Opera House and Culture’, designed by senior Architecture student Mariam Faisal, was selected as the winner of the People’s Choice Award at the Cityscape Global 2018 exhibition. Similarly, Architecture student Merna Khaled, who designed the forward-looking architectural concept for the ‘Abu Dhabi Community Center and Plaza’, was one of 40 global winners during the 10+5+X World Architecture Community Awards’ 29th Cycle. The WA awards are highly recognized on a global scale for highlighting remarkable and inspirational contemporary architecture projects that would otherwise go unnoticed by the international public.
Closer to home, 24 Architecture students came together to develop a special interactive event for children with Louvre Abu Dhabi for an initiative called ‘Pop-up Architecture.’ This enabled young participants to experiment with modular shapes and solids and create their own playful spaces. The design concept was arranged by Louvre Abu Dhabi to celebrate the museum’s first year of operation, and was showcased at its premises on Saadiyat Island. The students involved were Abdelmonem Mohamed, Abdulrahman Al Tekreeti, Ayesha Zahid, Diana Enab, Esraa Abu El Rub, Farazat Mirza, Heba Farwati, Leen Aissamy, Najah Majdi, Nouf Turkmani, Sohairah Sohail, Fares Khaddour, Mariam Shaker, Merna Khaled, Sara Ghannam, Shafaq Qamar, Shangeda Nesrin, Wael Marawi, Ayah Darweesh, Diala Yaseen, Majd Al Omari, Mohamad Dibaje, Naheel Barmil, Umer Javid and Waleed Gawish.
In addition, senior Architecture students Esraa Abu El Rub, Leen Al Aissamy, Nouf Turkmani and Mariam Shakir scooped up second place in the Spaghetti Truss Bridge Competition organized by the American University of Sharjah.
ADU’s Architecture program is the first and only program to earn Validation from RIBA (the Royal Institute of British Architects) in the UAE.