UIA Treasurer Fabian Llisterri and former (2011-2014) UIA Secretary General Michel Barmaki were present at the Biel Exhibition Center in Beirut for the opening of the Lebanese Architect Awards Festival on Thursday 16 February 2017. Mr. Barmaki represented the UIA on the 9-member jury that examined 36 internationally celebrated projects created over the past 10 years by Lebanese architecture firms based both in Lebanon and abroad.
The Festival was a truly cosmopolitan event, a celebration of Lebanese achievement in the field of architecture throughout the world. Organized as a platform for the exchange of ideas, skills and networking opportunities, and sponsored by 60 business partners including prestigious construction material suppliers and real estate developers, the event has also featured 3 distinguished guest speakers and over 10 000 visitors.
The international jury for the Lebanese Architect Awards bestowed 10 prizes in 8 categories: Private Housing, Residential Housing, Mixed Use Buildings, Education, Arts & Culture, Hotel & Leisure/Sports Facilities; Restoration, Retrofitting and refurbishment; Public Spaces; Sustainable Architecture; Crowd Award and the Winner of All Categories.
The winners were:
Private Housing: Karine Fakhre & Diana Sawaya, D House (Ain Al Kharoube – Mount Lebanon)
Residential Building: Jean-Marc Bonfils, East Village (Mar Mikhael)
Mixed Use Building: Hashim Sarkis Studios, Byblos Town Hall (Byblos)
Education, Arts & Culture: Maroun Lahoud, St Elie Church (Brih – Chouf)
Hotel & Leisure/Sports Facilities: Galal Mahmoud – GM Architects, O Beach (Jordan)
Restoration, Retrofitting and refurbishment: Antoine Fishfish & Michel Daoud, Souq Haraj (Tripoli)
Public Spaces: Zeina Kronfol, Karantina Play Garden (Karantina – Beirut)
Sustainable Architecture: Maha Nasrallah, Casa Batroun (Batroun)
Online/Crowd Award : Bernard Mallat Architects and Walid Zeidan Imad Gemayel (Landscape Designer), Cluster H “The Backyard” (Hazmieh)
Winner of All Categories: SARL Dorell – Ghotme – Tane for the Estonian National Museum (Tartu, Estonia)