A Girls Sanctuary in Iraq

Tamayouz Excellence Award invites architects and designers to submit their ideas for a safe and comfortable space for homeless girls that supports their health, educational and psychosocial needs and helps them to achieve their own potential.

The Response
Participants are asked to design a sanctuary for homeless underage girls, as well as older female teens (4-18 yrs old).

The sanctuary should provide security and a sense of community for the young girls, while presenting opportunities for them to stand out and contribute positively towards their community.

The environment of the sanctuary should not only be a shelter, but it should reflect the possibilities of the built environment for supporting health, psychological, educational and cultural needs while harnessing the power of art and creativity to encourage young girls to express themselves, and be brought back into the culture of the country in a way that is open, progressive and nourishing for them. The ancient river site might play a major role.

The Challenge

A quarter of Iraq’s children live in poverty, and a third of all children in Iraq are unable to access their basic human rights. Child poverty is a persistent issue in Iraq, which limits the potential of a large percentage of Iraq’s youth, curbs educational attainment, generates poor health in the individuals, and prevents children from realising their basic rights.

There are many organisations dedicated to such matters; however, only a few of them are devoted to girls only. Girls are particularly at risk and suffer specifically from personal and societal stigmatisation in ways that boys do not. In the past it has been more difficult to find official support for girls shelters. For this reason, the idea of a girls sanctuary emerged.

The sanctuary will be committed to the welfare of children throughout the whole of their childhood as a preventive measure in the fight against abandonment and social ostracism. The sanctuary should aim to restore the balance in life for the abandoned, destitute, and spiritually and physically traumatised children, and help in establishing a new environment where awareness of such issues is spread. It should also inspire NGOs to start taking control and contributing more to the community.

Eligibility

Architects, students, engineers and designers are invited to participate in this competition. Participation can be on an individual or team basis (maximum of 6 members per team). We encourage the participation of multidisciplinary teams.

Schedule

June/2021 – Competition launch and early registration
20/Nov/2021 – Closing date for registrations and submissions
Dec/2021 – Shortlist Announcement
December/2021 – Announcement of results
(Date to be confirmed) – Annual Tamayouz Excellence Award Ceremony

All Deadlines are 11:59 pm GMT (London).

Prizes

PRIZE WINNER 6 MONTHS EMPLOYMENT AT DEWAN, RENEWABLE UP TO ONE YEAROR $6000* (Salary 10,000 AED per Month).
2nd PRIZE $3000 + Certificate
3rd PRIZE $1000 + Certificate
7 x HONOURABLE MENTIONS Certificate + Invitation to attend the Annual Ceremony
TOP 20 & TOP 50 Published on our website and social media pages.

Registration

Early Registration: $75 from June/2021 – 30/Sep/2021
Standard Registration: $100 from 01/Sep/2021 – 20/Nov/2021

Regulations

This is an anonymous competition and the Unique Registration Number is the only means of identification
The official language of the award is English
The registration fee for this award is non-refundable
Contacting the jury is prohibited
As the award organiser, Tamayouz Excellence Award reserves the right to modify the award schedule if deemed necessary
Entries will not be reviewed if rules or submission requirements are not followed
Participation assumes acceptance of the regulations.

Evaluation

RELEVANCE – A clear declaration of conditions that set the urban and cultural contextual parameters of the project through identification of local challenges and potential opportunities, living culture and the daily use of the sanctuary.

RESPONSE – Aspirational transformative and original ideas with a programmatic response to existing local urban, environmental and social conditions and challenges. Clarity of the design process.

RESOLUTION – A clearly declared Spatial and technical justification, Accessibility, safety, security and durability and environmental impact.

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