DUBAI // It was not simply her eye for design, but her compulsion to address issues of social justice in her designs that won May Barber the first Cityscape Architecture Award for Young Architect of the Year on Monday. The 22-year-old American University of Sharjah graduate received the award for her graduation project for her bachelor's degree in architecture - a progressive and compassionate redesign of labour camps.
"I chose to do the labour camps because it is a sensitive issue and something that is not considered enough in design," she said. "In this postmodern city, I thought, why not introduce postmodern design into the labour camps." The Young Architect of the Year award, introduced this year, was announced on the opening night of the World Architecture Congress, which is running concurrently with Cityscape Dubai.
Initiated by Meraas Development, it aims to promote the development of design and architecture professionals in the region. Ms Barber said that after several visits to labour camps in Sharjah she was struck by how many people were living in small confined spaces, and was moved by small human elements - such as laundry hanging outside the buildings - that gave life to the otherwise depressing complexes.
"I thought, 'I can't come up with a law to make these people's lives better, so why not do it through architecture'," she said. Since contractors who let the labour camps try to spend as little money as possible on building them, Ms Barber said she used inexpensive materials such as concrete and focused on designing the accommodation that would enable workers to express their individuality. "A better lifestyle doesn't need better materials," she said. "These people need space. I designed the housing in such a way that each apartment could only accommodate two people.
"I saw eight people sleeping in one room on a concrete floor. What they really need is space and a design that creates a city for these people, who are very community orientated." The young architect has been approached by developers and contractors from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait interested in using her design. jhume@thenational.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
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Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
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6.30pm: The Madjani Stakes Listed (PA) | Dh175,000 | 1,900m
7.05pm: Maiden for 2-year-old fillies (TB) | Dh165,000 | 1,400m
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Founder: Abdulla Almoayed
Based: UAE
Founded: 2017
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Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
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Garlicky shrimp in olive oil
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Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes
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Serves 4
Ingredients
180ml extra virgin olive oil; 4 to 5 large cloves of garlic, minced or pureed (or 3 to 4 garlic scapes, roughly chopped); 1 or 2 small hot red chillies, dried (or ¼ teaspoon dried red chilli flakes); 400g raw prawns, deveined, heads removed and tails left intact; a generous splash of sweet chilli vinegar; sea salt flakes for seasoning; a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
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▶ Once the prawns turn pink, after 1 or 2 minutes of cooking, remove from the heat and season with sea salt flakes.
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Favourite film: Bohemian Rhapsody
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Emiratisation was introduced in the UAE more than 10 years ago
It aims to boost the number of citizens in the workforce particularly in the private sector.
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President Sheikh Khalifa has described Emiratisation as “a true measure for success”.
During the UAE’s 48th National Day, Sheikh Khalifa named education, entrepreneurship, Emiratisation and space travel among cornerstones of national development
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The Emiratisation programme includes the creation of 20,000 new jobs for UAE citizens
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