MUSCAT: Winners of the second edition of the coveted Bilarab bin Haitham Award (BHA) for Architectural Design was announced at a glittering ceremony under the auspices of HH Sayyid Bilarab bin Haitham al Said held at the Gutech Halban campus on Tuesday.
Ammar bin Abdulhamid al Kiyumi, Bayan bint Musallam al Ramadhaniyah, and Nayyara bint Khamis al Hinaiyah bagged the award for the design competition for Oman’s Pavilion at Expo 2025 Japan.
In the third cycle, Ammar bin Salah al Saleh, Mohammed bin Khudabaksh al Balushi, and Rawnaq bint Rashid al Ismailiyah, secured the prizes, while in the second Cycle, Moataz bin Abdullah al Nabri was declared the winner.
Mohammed bin Salah al Balushi was declared winner in the first cycle, and the winners were honoured by the chief guest.
The judging panel consisted of eminent architects like Zuhair bin Ali al Raisi as the head, Hanan bint Amer al Jabriyah as deputy head, Hilal bin Hamed al Busaidy, Dr Hanan bint Juma al Khathiriyah, Zainab bint Hamoud al Harthiyah, Haitham bin Mohammed al Busafi, Ahmed al Hashmi, Laila al Nasiriyah, Alia bint Abdulsattar al Hashmiya, and Sameer bin Sulaiman al Azri as members of the committee.
The consolation prizes for the efforts and participation went to Ammar al Kiyumi, Firaz bin Nasser al Hashar, and Moayyad bin Mubarak al Araimi.
"This global event, the cynosure of architects and other designers, is a message to the world that Omani youth is capable of participating in shaping the future by transferring the experience in all its dimensions, cultural and civilisational, and in both historical and contemporary styles," said HH Bilarab bin Haitham al Said.
The one-of-its-kind award in the region, which is designed in line with the Oman Vision 2040, in which part of it is developing the governorates architecturally, also involves designing the Maritime History Museum to be built in the Wilayat of Sur in the Governorate of South Al Sharqiyah.
The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism has provided land for the Maritime History Museum project in a coastal area measuring 14,154 sqm to make necessary preparations for the project, in terms of facilities and other technical requirements.
The shields of the BHA awards which are designed with non-fungible token technology (NFT) seeks innovative projects and designs that are environment-friendly and upholds authentic Omani civilisation and it is the only award standing on par with the level of the Arab World Awards.
The award which targets only Omani youth below the age of 35 specialised in the fields of architecture, design and urban planning, seeks to reflect the environmental diversity of the country presents different topics in architectural design in each of its cycles, which is aimed at a specific architectural topic each year.
The first edition of the recognition saw The Muttrah Square project by Abdullah al Bahri, Omaima al Hinai and Ahmed al Jahdhami winning the first place.
KABEER YOUSUF and AHMED AL KAABI
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
