Tamayouz Excellence Award for Women in Architecture and Construction in the Near East and North Africa - Winners Announcement

Tamayouz Excellence Award is delighted to announce the winners for the 2018 Tamayouz Women in Architecture and Construction Award, which is given to women who have contributed to the fields of architecture and construction throughout the Near East and North Africa. The award consists of two categories: Women of Outstanding Achievement and Rising Stars.

The Tamayouz Women in Architecture and Construction Award was established as part of the Tamayouz Excellence Award programme, which aims to champion the best architecture worldwide. It is an annual prize open to women who are from the NENA region and are either employed in the NENA region and specialise in architecture and construction, or who are employed/living abroad but their contribution has had a direct impact on the built environment in the Near East and North Africa region.​

Judging Panel Meeting at Roca London: Professor Jala Makhzoumi - Beirut, Anna Schabel - London, Kathy Basheva – London, Mandy Franz – London, Sarah Akigbogun - London, Rima Alsammarae - Dubai and Ahmed Al-Mallak - Coventry.

The winning entries were selected unanimously by the Tamayouz Excellence Award - Women in Architecture and Construction Award jury panel, which included:  Professor Jala Makhzoumi, academic and researcher at the American University of Beirut;  Anna Schabel, director of Wilton Studio Ltd in the UK; Mandy Franz, chartered architect and senior associate at MICA Architects in the UK; Kathy Basheva, a RIBA chartered architect and head of development and education at the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) in the UK; and Sarah Akigbogun, founder of Studio Aki London, architect, filmmaker, director of the film ‘She Draws : She Builds’ and vice chair of Women in Architecture UK

Rising Star Award - Winner: Dr Ebtissam Farid Moustapha, associate professor of architecture and design at Alexandria University and Co-founder of Encode Studio
Alexandria - Egypt

Judging Panel Comment:
“We were impressed by her design integrity and the information she submitted. The whole picture was very powerful, and the integrity was reflected throughout the whole submission.

We particularly admired her work in bringing creative design thinking to youth and children, as well as non-designers.

We commend the way she’s trying to challenge established design convention in Egypt and raise the standard of design in her country. She will be a role model for many and will have a greater impact due to overcoming the challenges of her environment.

---

Rising Star – Highly Commended:  Dr Deyala Tarawneh, assistant professor at University of Jordan, assistant director at University of Jordan Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre
Amman - Jordan

Judging Panel Comment: 
“We admire the impact she has on her students, either through studies, research or work. The many testimonials submitted by students were a clear indication that she has a great understanding of her students and vice versa. 

We also find her work very interesting -- she is looking at many aspects of urban spaces and that could change the way cities develop. Her research could have a real impact on her city.

Her published work is very important to propagating her ideas -- her writing is intellectually rigorous and yet she communicates well. She makes complicated ideas digestible for readers.

---

Women of Outstanding Achievement Award

Women of Outstanding Achievement - Winner: Suad Amiry, Founder of RIWAQ: Centre For Architectural Conservation 
Ramallah - Palestine 

Judging Panel Comment:
“Suad Amiry is a lifetime achiever. Her contributions are unparalleled, and her work is really inspiring -- it’s very much on the ground and involves the people. 

We find her approach to be universally inspiring. The sheer amount of work she’s produced is amazing, and she’s created a platform for other people to pick up where she’s left off.

She has shown great determination to meet the challenges of her environment and rise above them. Her work, which spans many mediums and explores various themes, leaves you awe-struck. Her ever-impressive portfolio of work reflects her pure determination and ambitions, and she is truly a person of great achievement.”

---

Women of Outstanding Achievements – Highly Commended: Nadia Habash, director and chief designer at Habash Consulting Engineers and adjunct professor at the Department of Architecture at Birzeit University
Ramallah - Palestine

Jury Panel Comment: 
“Her sustained ability to manage both being highly professional and being socially and politically active is greatly admirable. To combine practice with socio-political engagement requires a unique amount of passion and energy, especially to continuously sustain this balance at such a high quality as she does. 

It really inspires us to see women such as Nadia Habash challenging her immediate environment, which is laden with unique challenges that currently can’t be faced elsewhere, and yet her perseverance to work and better the life of those around her through architecture is absolutely amazing.

---

A comment to all participants from the jury:
“The breadth and depth of experience that all of the candidates presented the judges with created an immense challenge to choose a winner. It is really inspiring to see women from across the Middle East and North Africa overcoming political, social and gender-related challenges and locally perceived biases. Seeing them rise to their positions, whether they are leaders of their own companies, establishments or academic achievements, is a great display of strength, perseverance and ambition. We truly praise all of the finalists for working against odds and promoting the profession within their communities.”

 The judging panel meeting was hosted by Roca Gallery London, designed by Zaha Hadid.  

Tamayouz Excellence Award for Women in Architecture and Construction is sponsored by: Kufa – Makiya Charity (Main Sponsor), The Iraqi Business Council in Jordan and Coventry University. 

---

Who are the recipients of the Tamayouz Excellence Award for Women in Architecture and Construction in the Near East and North Africa 2018

Suad Amiry

A prominent architect, writer, and community leader, Suad Amiry is the founder of RIWAQ. She is the author of the prize-winning book Sharon and My Mother in Law (Feltrinelli 2003, Premio Viareggio, 2004). Amiry is the Vice President of Birzeit University’s Board of Trustees. She is a Board member for the Palestine Investment Fund, the Palestine Housing Council, and Jury for The Palestine Award for Culture (headed by the late Mahmoud Darwish). 

In 2004, Amiry received the prestigious Viareggio Literary Award in the international writing category in recognition of her architectural work and her novel Sharon and My Mother in Law. Suad Amiry attained a BSc from AUB, an MSc in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan, and a PhD in Architecture from the University of Edinburgh.  She has taught at Birzeit University and the University of Jordan. 

---

Nadia Habash

​Nadia Habash is the chief designer and director of Habash Consulting Engineers, an award- winning practice, and an adjunct lecturer at the Department of Architecture at Birzeit University.

​Habash is the president of the board of directors of Bisan Center for Research and Development, and a board member of several institutions. She is a graduate of the University of Jordan and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and holds a master’s degree in architecture.

---

Ebtissam Farid Moustapha

Ebtissam Farid Moustapha ​is an Associate Professor at Faculty of Fine Arts, department of Architecture. She is an architect and researcher where her research interests lies in Design education. She is investigating various digital and physical computational tools exploring the potentials of digital design and fabrication techniques to correlate education, profession and design industry. She has received her PhD in architecture from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Alexandria University that discusses Mass customization and the future of Housing.
​
Ebtissam is a founder at Encode design studio in Alexandria, Egypt, where she collaborates with Encode team to develop the design industry and production in Egypt by linking practice and education through research and prototyping. She is also working on Building a Multi-Disciplinary Design Network to include Egypt on the international creative design Map and offering an opportunity to discuss the value of design to innovation and build communications with other teams and professional practices.

---

Deyalah Tarawneh

​Deyala Tarawneh is an architect, urbanist and human geographer. Her work focuses on issues related to brownfield rehabilitation, temporary urbanism and spatial justice. Deyala holds a BArch and MArch in architecture both obtained from the University of Jordan and a PhD in Urban and regional planning obtained from the University of Birmingham, UK. Deyala has a particular interest in urban resilience forms and the right to urbanisation issues, in her work she constantly attempts to test Western claimed concepts in Middle Eastern contexts more particularly in the case of Amman-Jordan.