The internationally renowned Palestinian-Jordanian architect Rasem Badran (1945) is the 2019 laureate of Tamayouz Excellence Award’s most coveted accolade: the Tamayouz Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr Badran will receive the honour during Tamayouz’s annual ceremony, to be held in Jordan later this year.
The Lifetime Achievement Award celebrates the achievements of individuals who have made significant contributions towards humanity and the advancement of architecture and the built environment in the Near East and North Africa. The award also recognises those whose commitments to architecture were and continue to be unparalleled. The award was established as part of the Tamayouz Excellence Award programme, which champions and celebrates the best architecture worldwide.
Dr Badran is founder and partner of his architecture, planning and engineering practice Dar Al-Omran (DAO), which he established in 1980 and has since grown its presence across the Middle East, with offices in Amman, Riyadh, Beirut and Abu Dhabi. Some of his projects include the winning competition entry for the design of the Baghdad Grand Mosque (1982), the Grand Mosque and Justice Palace of Riyadh (1985), the International Islamic University Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur (1993), the King Abdul Aziz Historical Centre in Riyadh (1994), Madinat al Fahaheel in Kuwait (2003), the Abu Dhabi Court House Complex (2006), and Al-Bujairi Development in Al-Diriyah in Saudi Arabia (2006-2015).
Dr Badran was born in Jerusalem before his family moved to Amman, Jordan. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Technology Darmstadt, Germany in 1969 and in 2002, he received his Honorary Doctorate from Jordan University of Science and Technology.
Founder of Tamayouz Excellence Award and Coventry University academic, Ahmed Al-Mallak said: “With 2019 marking the expansion of Tamayouz’s Lifetime Achievement Award beyond Iraq, we are delighted to have Dr Rasem Badran as this year’s laureate. Throughout his career, he has shown an unmatched commitment to making our cities a better place for the people living in them. He is an architect, a mentor, an advisor, an artist and, above all, a role model to younger generations and architecture students across the Middle East and greater Muslim world. He has inspired many through his architecture, kindness, humility and unyielding support of the youth.”
Architectural Awards
- The Nile Award 2019: Awarded under the category of the “Most Creative Arab Personality”.
- Jordan Engineers Association (JEA) Award 2018: Honouring ceremony and award by JEA under the patronage of HRH Prince Al Hassan Bin Talal.
- Abdullatif Al Fozan Award for Mosque Architecture 2017
- Al-Hussein Order for Distinguished Contribution of the First Degree 2007: For his distinguished efforts in the enrichment of modern Islamic architecture.
- The Arab Architect Award 2001: Arab Housing Ministers sponsored by Arab League/Cairo.
- Palestine Award for Architecture 1997
- The Aga Khan Award for Islamic Architecture 1995: Received for the design of the Grand Mosque of Riyadh and the redevelopment of Riyadh Old City Centre.
- The Arab Architect Award 1990: Received in Morocco at the General Conference of the Arab City Organization.
- Won several international and regional competitions
The Lifetime Achievement Award was previously presented to Iraq’s renowned architects: Dr Mohamed Makiya (2014), Dr Rifat Chadirji (2015), Dr Kahtan Al-Madfai (2016), Hisham Munir (2017) and Maath Alousi (2018). In 2019, the award opened to architects from across the Near East and North Africa.
Tamayouz Excellence Award is sponsored by Coventry University, the Iraqi Business Council in Jordan, Kufa – Makiya Charity, Dewan Architects + Engineers, Ayad Al-Tuhafi Architects, Bonair Ltd, the United Nations Global Compact – Iraq Network, IDP Coventry.