Amman- 14 November 2019
Within Tamayouz Excellence Award, GJU's Students from the School of Architecture and Built Environment (SABE) at the German Jordanian University (GJU) won the Appreciation Award for two categories; the International Graduation Projects Award and Iraqi Graduation Projects Award.
Abdulqadir Qadri supervised by Eng. Leen Fakhouri won an Appreciation Award of the Category Iraqi Graduation Projects, where he designed ‘ Memory Park, Rethinking Madaba Archaeological Park’ to honor the historically significant region and play an active role in the city’s urban fabric and public space.
Qadri’s design attempts to negotiate with the current landscape and resolve the existing relationship between the current spaces and the environment, rather than impose an architectural intervention. The proposal is an open museum that works with the unused spaces between buildings, vegetation, and rooftops.
The Jury's Comments on Qadri's Project:
“This entry is very inspirational and transformative of a local area, and we commend its intent to regenerate an underused museum. The project responds very well to the social and physical context and addresses its connection to the surrounding context. The architecture is calm and restrained in keeping with the historic buildings surrounding the project and is sympathetic to the wider context.
“However, the project could benefit from more research and a clearly defined plan programme with technical realisation. And while the inside views are great, as this helps us understand the building, the exterior could be more exciting.”
Aqel Abueladas supervised by Mohammed Khaled won the Appreciation Award of Excellence in Graduation Projects on ‘Retracing Pella, Archaeological Research & Awareness Center’; he created a solution to protect Pella (located in the northern part of Jordan Valley) from vandalism and destruction as it awaits UNESCO World Heritage recognition. The project outlines an architectural intervention centered on an Archaeological & Awareness Center that serves archaeologists and gives the local community and site visitors the opportunity to learn more about the region’s history.
The Jury's Comments on Abueladas Project:
“This project features an interesting approach in its treatment of the building as an excavation. It is very elegant and offers respite from the heat and sun. The project also has a very mature approach to its intervention in the landscape, and avoids a visual competition with the adjacent archaeological excavations.
“Furthermore, the integration of the different courtyards is well-delivered, as they take into account the site’s topography, materials and colours. The hand-drawn sketches show the time spent researching the site and project before the proposal was drafted.
“We would have liked to see how this building manages light and ventilation at such depth. Studies on how the negative volumes could explore daylight would have been interesting.”
