Two weeks left to submit designs for the Barjeel Museum in Sharjah competition

There are two weeks left to submit proposals for the Rifat Chadirji Prize 2019, which seeks designs for a museum in Sharjah, UAE to house modern Arab art.

Established by Tamayouz Excellence Award, which partnered with UAE-based culture initiative Barjeel Art Foundation for this cycle, the annual thematic award is named after the prolific Iraqi architect, Dr Rifat Chadirji, and the submissions deadline is 1 September, 2019. 

To be located in Al Tarfa, a newly developed neighbourhood located on the highway connecting Sharjah to Dubai and Ajman, the museum is intended to permanently showcase Barjeel Art Foundation's extensive collection of modern and contemporary artwork from across the Arab world, which has previously only been showcased in temporary exhibitions.

Reflecting its programme, the museum should also be designed as an architectural and cultural landmark that contextualises Sharjah's history and cultural identity in a contemporary manner. In doing so, it is important that the project does not become a historic pastiche, but is relevant to contemporary architectural discourse while being informed by local cultural heritage and environmental conditions.

Information on Sharjah’s urban context, history and climate, as well as the requirements for the museum can be found in the competition brief.

The competition brief can be found here.

The deadline for submissions is 1 September, 2019. Registration can be done online via Tamayouz’s website here.

The Jury
The international jury for the 2019 cycle of the Rifat Chadirji Prize consists of some of the world’s most high-profile architects and artists, who will come together in October 2019 to review the submissions to select a winner.

This year’s jury members are:

• Stephen Austin, head of School of Energy, Construction and Environment at Coventry University (the academic partner of Tamayouz);
• Dr Rasem Badran, award-winning architect and founder of Dar Al-Omran
• Dia Azzawi, a celebrated Iraqi artist
• Claudia Linders, architect and dean of architecture and urbanism at Fontys Academy
• Fernando Olba, principal of Fernando Olba Arquitectura + Urbanismo
• Mandy Franz, senior associate at MICA Architects
• Nahed Jawad, academic and principal at Nahed Jawad Design
• Philip Michael Wolfson, founder of Wolfson Design
• Ahmed Al-Mallak, academic at Coventry University and founding director of Tamayouz Excellence Award

Schedule

• August 30, 2019 - Registration deadline
• September 01 , 2019 - Submissions deadline
• November 2019 - Announcement of results
• December 2019  - Annual Tamayouz Excellence Award Ceremony
• All deadlines are 11:59 pm GMT (London)

Eligibility
Architects, students, engineers and designers are invited to participate in this prize. Participation can be on an individual or team basis (maximum of four members per team). We encourage the participation of multidisciplinary teams. Under no circumstances will jury panel members, organizers or any of their family members be allowed to participate in this competition.

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About Tamayouz Excellence Award
Tamayouz Excellence Award is an independent initiative with no political affiliation that aims to advance the profession of architecture in the Middle East, North Africa and beyond, both academically and professionally. Tamayouz is an excellence award dedicated to supporting aspirational and transformative projects tackling local and global challenges, informed by a holistic understanding of context.

Since its launch in 2012, Tamayouz has grown into an internationally recognized initiative with a strong International Jury Board chaired by renowned academics and architects, such as Dame Zaha Hadid, DBE (2012), Angela Brady PPRIBA (2013), Jane Duncan PRIBA (2014), Marc Glaudemans (2015) and Dr Rasem Badran (2017).

Tamayouz Excellence Award is sponsored by Kufa – Makiya Charity (Main Sponsor), The Iraqi Business Council in Jordan, Coventry University, Dewan Architects + Engineers, the United Nations Global Compact, Ayad Al-Tuhafi Architects, and Tradex Global Ltd.