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.
Commercial Interior Design / Italian and UAE universities to collaborate on joint design research for project at Mina Zayed
CID featured the ongoing UNIVPM / ZU -CACE design research on Mina Zayed in Abu Dhabi
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!
Spaces and Places 2nd Global Inclusive Interdisciplinary Conference
We received a confirmation on acceptance of our submission “Adaptive Space” for presentation at the “Spaces and Places: 2nd Global Interdisciplinary Conference in Lisbon” on 14-15 March 2021. The video/ performance was conceived and realized in collaboration with Zinka Bejtic.
COMMERCIAL INTERIOR DESIGN / September 2020
As one of the judges for the Commercial Interior Design Award 2020 I was featured on the website. Thanks CID!
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.
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!
Heriot Watt Dubai Virtual Exhibition
I am very glad to be included in the virtual exhibition showcasing HW students’ work. It is an interesting visit. Highly suggested! Here is the link: https://hub.link/GUsEBPn
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!!
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
Urban Sustainable Regeneration Al Nasserya by Aus-Caad Students | World Design Awards 2020
Great news! The ARC501_F19 Design studio project “Urban Sustainable Regeneration Al Nasserya” has been awarded an honorable mention at the World Design Awards 2020. Congratulations to all students for the excellent work!
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.
Izmir University of Economics Department of Architecture Arch 498 Graduation Project Review
Thanks to the department of architecture at the Izmir University of Economics for the kind invitation to take part in their graduation project final reviews. The three seminars were conceived under the common theme “Together” but adressed their own specific architectural topic.
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.