Notre Dame University-Louaize (NDU), alumnus, Jamil Al Bardawil (BA’19), has been selected as an honorable mention in the 2019 Tamayouz Excellence Awards. The Tamayouz Awards are the world’s largest international award for architecture graduation projects, with 2019 seeing of 908 submissions, representing 151 universities from 64 countries. The award aims to recognize and showcase excellence in architectural design and education around the world.
Al Bardawil’s project, “Research Centre for Renewable Energy”, proposes to create the titular center underneath Mdeirej Bridge – the largest bridge in Lebanon, and one of the tallest in the Middle East. The center would attempt to find sustainable energy solutions to address the electricity problem in Lebanon, where power shortages in the areas surrounding the bridge reach up to 16 hours per day. Inspired by the inner workings of a beehive, the center would consist of various R&D labs, a testing facility, and a visitor’s area for raising awareness.
Commenting on Al Bardawil’s project, the Tamayouz jury said: “The problem of excessive energy consumption in some parts of the world and the shortage of it in others, along with inadequate, clean solutions to harvest it is a worldwide problem. This proposal tackles this problem in an innovative way, with an architectural gesture that follows what seems to be extensive research of the site, as well as the mechanical and engineering aspects of the design.”
“The reasons for the intervention success was the topic of renewable energy, which is an issue of major importance nowadays,” said Al Bardawil. “The fact that the design carried the idea to become tangible and out of the box, where the fluidity, the complexity and setting were able to mirror the purpose of the intervention in an innovative application.”
Charbel Tannous, Jamil AL Bardawil’s advisor at NDU, had this to say about his student’s success: “Jamil is a bright and hardworking architect who was able to tackle a common problematic in an innovative approach. His architecture complemented and enhanced the technological innovation found in the field of renewable energy.”