Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Contrast Designs Wins Hasan Fathy Award

Last week Contrast Designs was awarded the special mention in the Hasan Fathy architecture award  for the Serlachius Museum Extension project. The award is considered the most prestigious award in Egyptian architecture, and is jointly awarded with members from the Mies van der Rohe award, the Aga Khan award, and the Supreme Council of Culture. Previous award winners include Ali Raafat, Salah Hegab, Mohamed Awad, Saleh Lamei, Mamdouh Hamza, Raef Fahmy, Rami Aldahan and Godran among others. 

Congratulations and thanks to our project team:

Kareem Hammouda
Mazin Abdulkarim
Tamer Nader
Jovan Ivanovski

Andrej Prosevski
Goce Tikvarovski
Ivana Topalovska
Loai Nabil
Sara Mitry
Sayed Abdelmohsen


Find out more details about the winning project here



Sunday, December 2, 2012

Our Urban Futures Workshop


CONTRAST Designs partners Mazin A.Karim and Kareem Hammouda joined the workshop jointly organized by "Cairo from Below", "Megawra" and Ain Shams University last week. Along with 4 other moderators, and students from about 7 different architecture schools, the one-day workshop tried to highlight and open a discussion about several of Cairo's urban issues. From the Cairo 2050 plan, to transport and infrastructure, to personalized visions of Cairo's future, the workshop ended with a wide collection of ideas about the city.

We chose to focus on Cairo's suburbs and gated communities, specifically focusing on "The Wall" as a dominant element affecting the suburban condition. The team proposed visions of how these walls can be seen as opportunity, rather than reason, for segregation and fragmentation. Schemes included the "Transport Wall", the "Music Wall", and the "Drug Dealing Wall".

"Cairo from Below" are organizing "Our Urban Futures" competition that invites Cairenes to imagine and propose ideas for their city, Cairo. More details about the competition here.

A complete collection of the workshop photos here.