Muscat: His Highness Sayyid Balrab bin Haitham bin Tariq Al Said launched the Blarab bin Haitham Architectural Design Award, which targets Omani youth specialized in the fields of architecture and design, scholars and job seekers who meet the competition conditions.
The award comes in line with the future vision and aspirations of the Sultanate of Oman (Oman Vision 2040) in developing its different regions architecturally according to their geographical environment and civilizational identity. Moreover, it is in line with the development taking place in the field of architecture and design around the world.
This annual and local award aims to design and create unique architectural projects in certain regions of the Sultanate of Oman with a distinctive architectural character that combines originality and contemporary and can be adopted on the ground.
The award seeks to take advantage of the environmental diversity and topography of the Sultanate of Oman in its different governorates, where different topics will be presented in the architectural design that annually targets a specific architectural theme and a specific region or governorate.
His Highness Sayyid Balarab confirmed the launch of the award with the blessing of His Majesty the Sultan. His Majesty the King praised the idea of competition and its trends, and expressed his great admiration for the goals it seeks.
He emphasized that His Majesty’s grace motivated the award for jihad and the realization of its visions and aspirations.
His Highness Mr. Bellarab explained that the award stems from the idea of launching a local competition with a global vision targeting Omani youth specialized in the fields of architecture and design. Moreover, to present modern architectural and urban designs with artistic visions that combine tradition and contemporary to develop a specific region in the Sultanate of Oman, put.
The best young Omani professionals who will be selected to compete and qualify to win the Bilarab Bin Haitham Architectural Design Award.
He added that there are many goals that the competition seeks to achieve, stressing that “the award targets Omani youth, so our mission and goals in this field lie in investing local architectural capabilities and skills and enabling them to develop different regions in the Sultanate of Oman, which can contribute to realizing value.” Added. Perhaps competition is one of the appropriate ways to invest and empower these abilities in young people in this aspect. It may also be a gateway for them to cross into the future with more creative ideas and aspirations, and we hope that this creativity will be reflected on the ground.”
Regarding the objectives of the competition, His Highness Sayyid Belarab stressed that the ultimate goal is to listen to the voices of young people in a very special way, saying that His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tariq stressed the need to pay attention and listen to the voice of young people. Omani youth. Thus, through this award and competition we will make sure to listen to the creative ideas of young people in an artistic way that seeks towards urban development and creativity in the related fields of architecture and design. On the other hand, we were keen to have a general goal for this award bearing the slogan: “Towards an innovative and contemporary Omani architectural style”, and this goal may be closer to the artistic aspect. While not neglecting other goals related to the local community or the empowerment and development of youth capabilities. The award contributes to achieving the aspirations of Oman’s 2040 vision, through the outputs and development visions that the award will provide, whether for existing projects or for creating new ones.”
On the general objective of the award, its contents and implications, His Highness Sayyid Balarab affirmed that the Omani architectural style is rich due to its great diversity in the various governorates of the Sultanate of Oman, and the nature and geography of the country have contributed to this. achieve this richness.
The style of the plains as well as the style of the coast differs from the style of the interior, and perhaps designers have sought throughout the past years to imitate those styles, so traditional projects and installations based on the old urban style appeared in their homes. design, and there are few who have sought to develop or modernize it to make it urban well while keeping pace with the time ” Hence, the award makes sure that the proposals, visualizations and entries in its competition are innovative, contemporary and sustainable and at the same time His Highness Mr. Balarab said.
With regard to the target groups, he explained that the award was keen to address the Omani youth of both sexes. “Omani youth specialized in the fields of architecture, design and urban planning can participate in the announced competition, and we are keen not to extend the age group too much, and to regulate the age of the participants by no more than 35 years. We have included job seekers and students with the aim of providing a greater opportunity for young people At this age; avoid their competition with the older age groups who might have more experience in this field,” His Highness Mister Bellarap explained.
He said that this award competition is an opportunity for young people towards creativity, and the award allows young people to participate in its competition either individually or in a team of no more than three individuals; Who can submit their bids collectively in their names, subject to compliance with the conditions of the competition.
And about the new feature that distinguishes the Balarab Bin Haitham Award for Architectural Design from other awards. His Highness Mr. Belarab stated, “Since the beginning of the idea of launching this award, we had a vision for this award to be different from its local counterparts. Therefore, the idea was to focus on what happens after the award winner is announced. Especially with regard to the results of the winning project. Therefore, we made sure that the idea was Benefiting from the project, implementing it and following it up, whether through investment or through the relevant government agencies, where the award worked in coordination with these bodies.The matter is that we will make sure that the winning project sees the light anywhere in the Sultanate of Oman.
The conditions for participation in the award competition. He said: “We have made sure that these conditions are simple and free of complexity, in order to involve the largest possible number of young people in the competition; in addition to the basic condition that participation is limited to Omani youth who are not more than 35 years old. In general, it was necessary to That participants be familiar with the architectural design and presentation programs, as it is these programs that must be relied upon in such projects. There are also some technical conditions that the participating groups can refer to, both on the award website and through their pages on social media platforms.”
With regard to the prizes allocated by the Bilarab Bin Haitham Architectural Design Award to those who will have the opportunity to qualify for the final stage; His Highness Mr. Bellarab affirmed: “We have studied many options in this regard, and we have sought to make the prizes equivalent to the efforts of those who will reach the coronation stage. We would like to point out that there are ten contestants who will qualify for the final stage, and this stage, according to the plan, is concerned with submitting proposals to the jury. Or the committee, where each contestant must make a presentation to the committee. About his project ideas, proposals and technical visualizations within a period of time. The jury has the right to discuss them in all the details, and in the end, big prizes will be awarded to three winners of these ten contestants.”
On what the award will add to society in general, His Highness explained that “since the beginnings of thinking about launching this award, there was a tendency for the award to have an added value, whether it was on the community, the contestants or the business sector in general. What the award envisioned was that it would provide an opportunity For small and medium enterprises to benefit from the projects that will be developed or established, by creating service outlets provided by some of these institutions run by Omani youth, such as cafes, food stores, antiques, souvenir shops or other activities that are suitable for each project being implemented and developed. The award also aims to establish and implement technical workshops for participants in the areas they target, and we hope that these workshops will provide participants with new skills and knowledge.At the community level, it is hoped that the award will contribute to adding aesthetic touches and developing vital sites to form an outlet for the public. To spend beautiful times with their families and companions.”
Regarding the competition cycle and the timing of its organization, His Highness Mr. Balarab explained that “the plan for this award is held annually, which led us to realize that our dear country is very vast, and one of the axioms confirmed by the award is to circumvent it all over Oman. This will only be possible through the continuation of this award. Therefore, we decided that the award will have an annual cycle targeting each year a specific governorate, a specific geographical area, or a different architectural style. We are keen that the award will leave its positive impact throughout our country, and contribute to the development of a facility or the modernization of a particular tourist attraction or the creation of A new facility with an innovative, environmentally friendly vision.”
Concluding his remarks, His Highness Mr. Balarab addressed the Omani youth by saying: “This award was made for you, and you are qualified to present your suggestions, visions and ideas through which you seek to make a qualitative leap in architecture and the design sector. Therefore, the field is open to you for creativity, efficiency and unprecedented realization.” Accordingly, we will not hesitate to study any proposal submitted to us that meets the technical conditions set by the jury.”
His Highness stressed that “nations are only built by the hands of their generations, and we can consider this award as an invitation to build our homeland, as the field is open to young people who deserve their visions and aspirations in this regard.”
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