The brightest young university minds have designed the perfect pavilions to celebrate the kingdom’s maritime culture.
The Open Air Pavilion Competition, organised by The American Institute of Architecture Students – Bahrain Chapter and supported by the Youth Affairs Ministry and Bahrain Science Affairs, challenged students to put their talents to the creative test.
The task was to provide the stage for a vibrant showcase of Bahrain’s connection to the sea, while also including interactive spaces.
University of Bahrain students Eman Hussain, 21, Reem Alhamar, 21, and Sara Alabbasi, 21, took first place with their unique ‘Between Waves’ pavilion underlying sustainable practices and Bahraini cultural identity.
“Inspirations behind the design all root from our connection with the sea and its elements,” Ms Hussain told the GDN.
While considering sustainability and conceptuality, she said their design integrated maritime tools and reused them by cleverly repurposing sails, ship wood (bannosh) and fishnets.
“The fluidity of water and the rise of the waves influenced the overall form of the pavilion’s flow and we also included curvilinear lines inspired by seashells, corals and pearl oysters,” she explained, adding that the university team members were ‘delighted and over the moon’ to have notched first in the competition.
Fellow University of Bahrain students Zahida Majeed, 22, Afaf Mansoor, 22, and Ismahan Salman, 22, took second place with a masterpiece inspired by the fascinating fasht Al Adham and sustainable practices.
A fasht is a protected habitat for coral, fish and many other sea animals. Experts recently voiced fears that Bahrain’s coral reef treasures are under threat from strong, growingly common marine heatwaves.
“It is great that we are able to raise awareness through our pavilion about the Al Adham fasht, especially since it’s in danger of dying,” she said. “Our design allows the pavilion to be easily assembled and disassembled, which makes any transit process simpler,” she said adding that the design used economical and sustainable materials locally produced and sourced.
“It would be contradictory if we were designing our pavilion using inspiration from the fasht and sustainable practices, yet our design required some sort of mass transit when dissembling which would pollute the environment above the sea, contradicting the concept.
“We could not raise awareness about a sustainable practice, without a sustainable approach or design.”
In third place came University of Bahrain students Jumana Khonji, 22, Fatema Alawi, 21, and Mikhaila Juco, 22, who used a special concept to tell the journey of Bahrain’s cherished pearl.
“Our concept focused on how Bahrain’s sea has had a significant impact on the kingdom’s heritage and culture, and how the pearl remains central to that journey,” Ms Alawi told the GDN.
From 1850 to 1930, pearls were considered more precious than diamonds and pearl diving became the main contributor to the kingdom’s economy.
By choosing the pearl to be the centre of their pavilion, it created a circular space that represented the experience and journey of pearl diving.
“One of the requirements was to make the pavilion interactive, so we used smaller spaces for workshops and lectures, to creatively tell the story of how divers would retrieve the delicate pearl,” she said, adding that having their hard work and design recognised felt ‘amazing’.
“We felt really happy with the result. It was our first time entering a competition, so to come in third place was a pleasant surprise,” she said.
julia@gdnmedia.bh
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