A Design Praxis in Dubai, Palm Jumeira
The Jamal Abed Faculty of Architecture organized a 5-day Design Week event, in collaboration with the global renowned architecture firms Gensler and Tabanlioglu Architects, with the support and the sponsorship of the group of friends of the late Dean of Architecture Jamal Abed.
The event, a unique pedagogic and design experience where students from years across the curriculum teamed up in 12 groups each of 5 students, competing and challenging the preliminary design schemes by Gensler and Tabanlioglu Architects, on a lot in The Palm, Jumeira Dubai, in an academic experience highlighting the importance of Design Thinking, Team Spirit and Communication as core and major constituents of Architecture as a discipline.
The design week was concluded by a hybrid jury, with the esteemed external jurors, Carlos Cubillos Principal, Global Leader Community Sector at Gensler, Murat Tabanlioglu, the founder of Tabanlioglu Architects, and from Beirut, Bassim Halaby, CEO at Benchmark, Tarek Kazzaz, chairman at Al Mutawwer and Randa Jamali operation officer and partner in Benchmark, Dr. Oussama Ziadeh, founder of Intelligile, Oussama Kabbani, the Chief Operating Officer of Solidere International, and a brief honorary presence of Ms. salma Abed, wife of the late Dean Jamal Abed, and the faculty team of design instructors.
The jury was followed by a closing ceremony on campus, where acting Dean Halah Abi Haydar welcomed the honorary guests, President Ramez Maluf, Azm University Trustee Gaby Khoryaty, the friends of Jamal Abed namely: Prof. Tarek Kazzaz, Mr. Bassim Halaby, Dr. Oussama Ziadeh, Dr. Mohamed-Asem U. Abdul-Malak & Ms. Randa Jamali, Dr. Nazih el Jorr Dean of Faculty of Business at Azm University, the faculty team members and students.
During the ceremony, President Maluf officially announced the eventful news, the new naming of the faculty to become: The Jamal Abed Faculty of Architecture; a graduate group of students, class of 2021 offered a presentation in memory of late Dean Abed, introducing their fresh story of success and the establishment of their new architecture office, a word by Mr. Bassim Halaby on behalf of the Group of Friends of Jamal Abed (Bassim Halaby, Issam Kayssi, Mohamad-Asem Abdul Malak, Oussama Kabbani, Oussama Ziade, Randa Jamali, Rassem Badran), was followed by the distribution of the trophies to the sponsors, the certificate of participation to all students, and the monetary awards to the winning teams.
An Iftar on the premises of the university was the final and closing celebration of this very unique design week, the JA.DW Jamal Abed Design Week, a yearly tradition maintaining the legacy of Dean Jamal Abed and sponsored as announced by the Friends of Jamal Abed for two more years to come.
The prizes offered by the friends of Jamal Abed to the winning teams: 2 First Prizes each 18,750,000 LBP, a second prize of 12,000,000 LBP and a third prize of 10,000,000 LBP