NEWS
UoB Student Wins Prince Sultan Bin Salman Award For Urban Heritage
UoB Student Wins Prince Sultan Bin Salman Award For Urban Heritage
Sakhir – University of Bahrain (Khadija Abdulsalam)
A student in the Department of Architecture and Interior Design, College of Engineering, University of Bahrain (UoB), won the Urban Heritage Project award at the “Prince Sultan Bin Salman Award for Urban Heritage” ceremony, which was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, 17 May 2022.
Student Ayat Abdul-Mahdi Mirza Hassan won the first prize for the student category for the Urban Heritage Project for her work as an “Art & Craft Centre”, in which she participated in the competition in 2016, under the supervision of the lecturer in the Department of Architecture and Interior Design, Suzana Soares Saraiva.
Saraiva indicated that the graduation project is the last stage in engineering education, where students are expected to showcase the knowledge they gained from the program – during the various years of study – implemented in a comprehensive architectural design capable of integrating functional, social and cultural considerations along with site constraints and rules, laws and regulations, and projects must take into account the integration of architectural design with the most appropriate solutions for the structure, building conditions and building services systems, in addition to considerations of sustainable design.
The student’s project was distinguished by its thorough preliminary research, an understanding of the importance of arts and crafts, and their role in the continuation of culture, and its proposal for practical software solutions on how to revive handicrafts in Bahrain. Also, the project demonstrated the ability to integrate all the complex variables that influence architectural design, with an innovative interpretation of local culture.
Also, Ayat Hassan participated in the competition with a two-dimensional “art traditional and creational” project, which was designed to integrate the heritage spirit with a modern, contemporary character, representing a meeting point and communication between generations, and rooting Bahraini heritage values, thus strengthening the national identity. The student emphasized that the project was designed to be the ideal place that combines culture and entertainment, in a civilized place that offers Bahraini arts and crafts mixed with recreational activities, to be the ideal alternative to shopping centers, and a tourist and recreational destination that attracts Bahraini youth and tourists.
Furthermore, she added that the engineering design of the project reflects the idea of vanishing, starting as one large block, and then gradually fading into a number of buildings, and activities continue to the sea via a wooden bridge, which creates a unique experience for the visitor. Ayat Hassan thanked Dr. Osama Al-Jawahery, Dr. Islam Hamdi Al-Ghunaimi, and the project supervisor, lecturer Saraiva.
It is worth noting that the student, Ayat Hassan, won the Eskan Bank Award for Engineering Creativity under the slogan (Sustainable House at an Affordable Price for Bahrain) in the year 2015, then the award for the best graduation project in the Department of Architecture in the year 2016, and she aspires to benefit from her expertise in the engineering field by working in development projects and participating in urban development in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
