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Dubai based architecture firm Dewan Architects + Engineers, known for spearheading a wide range of projects in the Middle East, recently announced an official call-out for the Tamayouz Excellence Award, a collection of awards that celebrate the best in architecture. Supported and guided by the founder and chairman of Dewan, Mohamed Al Assam, this series of awards, designed to focus on the local challenges of Iraq, have grown in popularity over the years. Under this annual architecture programme that seeks the participation of designers and architects from across the globe, sits The Dewan Awards, one of the newest awards initiated by the firm to empower young architects. Its 2022 edition invites participants to submit proposals and ideas pertaining to a Rehabilitation Centre for Terrorism Victims in Iraq.
Iraq, under the constant siege of violence, war and dictatorship, has remained politically and socially fragile for years. Despite protracted measures taken by various governments and by social welfare groups over the years, its situation continues to remain distressing. The turmoil, which first started during the Iraq-Iran war between 1980 and 1988, has managed to cause large-scale injuries and death and violate the economic and social rights of its citizens over the years. In this tempestuous environment, human rights and fundamental infrastructure are scant. This turbulence poses the need for setting up rehabilitation centres that can cater to both the physiological and psychological needs of Iraqis. This is the premise of the Dewan Awards.
For almost four decades, Dewan Architects + Engineers has been a frontliner in the Middle East engineering and design sector. In addition to winning numerous awards, the firm consistently raises the bar for other designers practising in the area. This is due to the firm's talented architects, engineers, planners, and thinkers. With this year’s architecture competition, the firm aims to encourage and empower younger designers and architects from around the world, both by providing them with a syncretic platform to experiment and by challenging them to creatively respond to extant challenges and social issues.
The eponymous Dewan Awards leverage the company’s corporate social responsibility initiatives, while also serving as a guide for youngsters to excel in the design industry. By presenting real life and real time challenges to young designers, the firm successfully helps them gain unparalleled knowledge. Mindful of different cultures, experiences, ideas and visions, the submitted proposals will be assessed in tandem with their contexts instead of in isolation. The proposals are expected to highlight Iraq’s trials and provide an open source of ideas that can tackle the corresponding social issues. The winner of the Dewan Award for Architecture 2022 will be offered fully paid employment at the firm for six months.
The competition, seeking creatives to design the ‘Rehabilitation Centre for Terrorism Victims’ in Iraq, demands them to be mindful of the trauma that these victims have faced. The brief, thus, demands the creation of a safe and comfortable public space that can also provide an arena for tending to physical, physiological and social needs, motivating its residents to improve their condition, reach their full potential and form coping mechanisms to deal with wounds of the past. Additionally, they must also help people develop confidence in themselves and their skills so that they rejoin society. With 50,337 square metres of indoor and outdoor space dedicated to social interaction, learning, and sporting activities, the Zayouna Center in Baghdad serves as an inviting space for repose and rejuvenation.
Engineers, designers, architects or students can participate in the competition either as individuals or as part of a maximum of six member multidisciplinary teams. Their submissions must include facilities for all the five pillars of the rehabilitation centre: health, safety and privacy, hope, psychological rehabilitation, and training and capacity building.
The most appropriate proposal will be identified in this single-stage competition by an international panel of judges, which includes Professor Jala Makhzoumi from UNIT 44, Beirut; Professor Wendy Pullan from Cambridge University; Professor Shaban Taha from Shoubra University, Cairo; Nadia Habash from Head Engineering Association in Palestine; Dr Davide Ponzini from Politecnico di Milano, Milan; Lucinda Anis from Kommune Studio, London; Kathy Basheva from Studio Basheva, London; Mohamed Al-Assam from, Founder of Dewan Architects and Engineers; Ahmed Al-Azzawi, Dewan Award coordinator of Tamayouz; and Ahmed Al-Mallak, the Founding Director of Tamayouz Excellence Award.
Interested candidates can register online for the competition here.
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