ORDINARY LEGACY DESIGN WORKSHOP / NEW ECO-MUSEUM FOR THE MARITIME CULTURE OF PORTO SAN GIORGIO

I am thankful for the invitation to be one of the two critics for the final reviews of this interesting design workshop. I designed a project for the same area for an invited competition back in 2004. I look forward to see the new concepts proposed by the students.

Architectural Design for the Enhancement and Conservation of the Architectural Heritage @ UNIVPM

Within my Ph.D. program activities at the Universita' Politecnica Delle Marche, I will be co-teaching the 4th year course "Architectural Design for the Enhancement and Conservation of the Architectural Heritage." This year's theme will be the re-qualification of an industrial area in Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi. We will start next week with two exciting lectures. The first one given by Prof. Apostolos Kyriazis will be about the existing context; in the second one, a freshly graduated student from Abu Dhabi University will present her thesis project supervised by Prof. Basem Eid Mohamed.

The Global Undergraduate Awards 2020 Programme

Malak Hawamdeh, one of my students of the ARC302_S20 course, submitted her entry 'Al Zorah Coastal Institute of Ajman' to The Global Undergraduate Awards 2020 Programme. From the email I received: "The judging panel has deemed Malak a Highly Commended Entrant in the Architecture & Design category. Her entry emerged as among the top 10% of entries submitted to that category. With 4,148 submissions to The Global Undergraduate Awards this year, this is a truly remarkable achievement." It is worth to note that while the almost totality of the projects were either thesis or 5th-year work, Malak achieved this outstanding result with a 3rd-year project. Congratulations to this talented young designer!

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TEACHING POSITION @ HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY / DUBAI CAMPUS

I am delighted to announce the academic collaboration as an adjunct professor with the prestigious Heriot-Watt University for the academic year 2020-21. I will lead their first-year Architecture program. I am very excited about the position and looking forward to meeting the students.

JUDGE @ COMMERCIAL INTERIOR DESIGN AWARD 2020

I will be be one of the judges for the 2020 edition of the Commercial Interior Design Award. I look forward to evaluating the projects!

LECTURE - ArchiNet.ME

Grateful and honored to be invited as a speaker for the lecture series of the prestigious platform ArchiNet based in Riyadh. Thanks to Arch. Mohammed ALMashharawi for the opportunity to talk about my research.

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8th Sharjah Sustainability Awards.

A team of my ARC501_F19 students (Akhila Girijan and Aashika Shibu) won the “Sustainable Architecture Design in Buildings Outstanding Team Award” in this year's edition of the Sharjah Sustainability Awards. The award was assigned to their project “Aqua Care Machine Park.”

This is great recognition for a sophisticated research seeking sustainable architectural solutions for the regeneration of problematic urban areas.

The urban redevelopment projects for the Al Nasserya area in Sharjah previously received the following recognition and awards:

  • Critic's Award XXX International Seminar and Award for Architecture and Urban Culture / Camerino 2020

  • Honorable mention / World Design Awards 2020

  • Shortlisted / Future Generation Competition at Middle East Energy 2020

  • Selected for presentation / Sharjah Engineering Forum 2020

Urban Sustainable Regeneration Al Nasserya by Aus-Caad Students | World Design Awards 2020

We have received the certificates from the World Design Award 2020, where the Al Nasserya project won an honorable mention. They look good!

30th International Seminar and Award for Architecture and Urban Culture - Camerino 2020

I am immensely proud to announce that the ARC501 project Al Nasserya - Urban Regeneration won the Critics' Award at the 30th International Seminar and Award for Architecture and Urban Culture - Camerino 2020. It is the most important Academic Award in Italy now in its 30th edition. This year's theme was: "FUTURE CITY: URBAN RENEWAL PROJECTS. Regenerated spaces, new forms of living, mobility, green areas, and urban infrastructures." A perfect matching theme for my students' work in fall 2019. The Critics' Award was assigned by a jury of prominent Italian architects and academics, including the former director of magazine "Domus." It is fantastic recognition for a proposal that seeks to investigate new urban design and architectural solutions for low-quality areas of contemporary Arabian cities. Congratulations to all the students!

NEW COMPASSES WEBSITE AND NEW EDITORIAL ROLE

The collaboration with Compasses is ongoing. I am currently working on a publication about the fascinating architectural phenomenon of the contemporary Iranian “Palazzina” (apartment building). The architectural investigation will showcase some of the most innovative projects, designed by the new generation of Iranian architects, and critical texts on the relation between new typologies and the vernacular tradition. Meanwhile, Compasses has a new website. It is great to be part of the team! Have a look!!

Compasses Website

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Cool City confirmed participation in the next Architecture Venice Biennale 2021

After the Biennale of Architecture was postponed to 2021 due to the current pandemic we are happy to announce that COOL CITY project (Laboratorio Architettura Nomade, Kyong Park,and Mijoo Park) will be part of the Korean pavilion / Future school in the next edition opening May 22, 2021

COMPASSES 33 / ANARCHITECT + X ARCHITECTS Interviews

In the upcoming issues, Compasses will publish a series of interviews I did with some of the most influential figures of the architectural industry of the UAE. Here a sneak peek at the first two. I discussed “Detail” with Anarchitect and “Culture” with X - Architects.

GRADUATION PROJECT FINAL REVIEWS - ABU DHABI UNIVERSITY

Thanks to Abu Dhabi University for the invitation to be a member of the external jury for the final reviews of the graduation project. Students’ interesting proposals focused on projects designed at the scale of the local context of Abu Dhabi.