JO Magazine

The ain ghazal interpretation park may never be built—but its award-winning design makes a statement about heritage, community and jordanian architecture.

Words by Sandra Hiari.

BEING A STUDENT OF ARCHITECTURE is a scruffy business. You work long hours, dig into philosophical books, render images that crash your computer, and you barely get any recognition. You’ll be lucky if your professor even cracks a smile and describes your project as “good.”
But the grass does get greener on the other side of the fence. That is, assuming there are awards that aim to recognize students’ most promising work.

Historically, the Jordanian Engineers Association would hold an annual contest and exhibition for the work of architectural students, but apart from that, there was little other chance for recognition. That is, until last year, with the launch of The Omrania & CSBE Student Award for Architectural Excellence. (See “Contextual Atheism,” JO Nov 2008.)

Images

Twenty-six student projects from five architectural schools were submitted in the inaugural competition. This year, Omrania and the Center for the Study of the Built Environment have expanded their net to include submissions from students across the Arab world.

In addition, another local award came into being, the Abdali Innovation Award, given out by the Abdali Development Corporation.

First place in the 2009 Omrania/CSBE award went to three students from the University of Jordan, Heba Al Nejada, Rasem Kamal “We surveyed the neighborhoods and talked to the residents,” Ahmed said. “Kids were finding it dangerous to cross the highway to go to school.” So the team of students aimed to create a project that would link the two sides of the road and bring attention to the importance of the area.

Their project comprises two major themes. One part is museum-oriented, and includes what they’ve dubbed “interpretation halls,” along with a resource center and an environmental center. This part is tied to the Tareq area, where the archeological artifacts lie, and where the neighborhood is sparsely populated.

The second part of the park is commercially-oriented, and uses a light rail stop as a magnet to attract residents of the densely populated neighborhood of Marka. This includes cinemas, restaurants and retail outlets. The two parts connect to make a path over the highway and the light rail tracks, and a 500 meter-long roof spans the whole area.

“The concrete roofing acts as a platform for temporary events and pavilions that reflect the underground interpretation experience in each zone,” Rasem Kamal explained.

The project relies heavily on raw concrete as a finish, “to achieve a modest, minimal and effortless presence,” said Heba Al Nejada.
“We didn’t want to express a building as “When the students look at a site,” she said, “they don’t consider it only as an archeological site per se. I encourage them to have a holistic view of the site and its surrounding context.”

She says she directs her students away from trying to create architectural icons in such undertakings.

“It’s not about grandiose architecture,” she said. “Rather, it’s about [architecture] that integrates into its cultural context.” Fakhoury challenges local practices at such sites, saying that “no architectural firm and no municipality has dealt with this site in a holistic manner.”

But while these students have managed to excel, it hasn’t been without pain. Now that they’ve graduated, they have plenty to say about the obstacles they’ve faced in getting an architectural education.

“The lack of exposure to international architecture in conceptual thinking” is a challenge Kamal noted. Another oft-mentioned obstacle is that architecture programs often “demand [us] to do stereotypical designs,” Al Nejada said.

Ahmed voiced yet another sad reality: “We don’t have enough professors.” The fact that three students worked on one collaborative project, rather than each doing their own, is actually part of Jordan University’s recent attempt to solve the problem it created by  admitting more students than its operational capacity could accommodate.

Omrania, a regional architectural and engineering firm operating from Amman, Bahrain and Riyadh, along with the Center for the Study of the Built Environment, a Jordanian non-profit research center, hope to identify the challenges and smooth out some of the rough patches through the award they’ve created.

“The award aims at recognizing excellence in the educational process among students, faculty members, and departments of architecture in the country.” explained Mohammad Al Asad, chairman of CSBE’s board. “We also hope to contribute to enriching the discourse on architectural education in Jordan and in the Arab world as a whole.”

To retain an objective voice, an independent jury was formed to select the winning projects. This year’s judges were Saleh Al Hathloul, an educator and architectural critic from Saudi Arabia, Vladimir Djurovic, a landscape architect from Lebanon, and Khalid Nahhas, an architect from Jordan.

In their report, the jury members commended the winning project for incorporating “a ‘story-telling’ approach that encourages a sequential exploration of the site, thus giving value to archeology and the history of the place.” Moreover, they found the idea of “a living bridge over the highway particularly powerful.”

The judges also highlighted the diversity of projects submitted. Second prize went to a design for a women’s shelter by Saud Abdulaziz Al Mutawa, from Kuwait University, and third place was awarded to a waterfront development in Al Mina City by Farah Afif Kassab from the American University in Beirut.

The largest number of projects submitted for the Award came from Jordan, with 22 entries, while Egypt and Syria followed with 16 submissions each.

“It’s not so much about assuming a new or expanded role, but more about widening the circle of exchange and interaction,” explained Al-Asad. “Opening up the award to the whole Arab world provides all of us with exposure to an incredibly wide range of highly relevant experiences and solutions that we may not get the chance to come across otherwise.”

“We were particularly glad to see submissions from war torn regions such as Iraq and Gaza,” added Hani Imam Hussaini, director of Omrania & Associates in Amman.

To attract students like Ahmed, Al Nejada and Kamal, the Omrania & CSBE Award raised about JD5,300 in prize money.
“When you make things harder for people, you have to increase their rewards!” said Hussaini. “The real prize is what such recognition can hopefully do to the careers of winning students. And this is hopefully just a stepping stone.”

So where are the winning students now? Both Al Nejada and Ahmed are working in architectural firms and applying for master’s degree programs. Al Nejada works for Consolidated Consultants, where the celebrated Jafar Tukan leads the architectural division, and Ahmed works with his father, architect Zaki Sayyed Ahmed. Kamal is on a five-month internship with AS.Architecture-Studio in Paris.

For them, the project is a welcome bit of recognition.

“It helps us not to regret those long sleepless nights,” said Al Nejada, “because in the end it all comes to fruition.”