AURAK Hosts Workshop on Contemporary Home Design

The American University of Ras Al Khaimah (AURAK) this week hosted an architecture workshop entitled ‘Contemporary Approaches to Design of Houses’.

The day-long event included a critique of student-submitted projects related to the School of Engineering’s ‘Al Bayt Al Kamel’ project, otherwise known as the Zero-Energy House. The project originates as part of the university’s participation in the first edition of the Solar Decathlon Middle East competition, which will culminate in the construction of a sustainable solar home.

The workshop, which was organized by Dr. Fernando del Ama Gonzalo and the Department of Architecture, was designed to engage students and faculty alike through inviting experts within the field or architecture to speak about innovative ideas which could potentially be incorporated into university’s design.

Presentations included ‘Contemporary Domestic Space: Between Neutrality and Specificity’ by Dr. Rodrigo Nunez from San Pablo University in Madrid, Spain, and ‘Modern Concepts in House Design’ by Dr. Mohamed Khaled from the German-Jordanian University. The workshop also included an analysis on the features of a traditional Emirati house from Eman Al Assi, a heritage studies specialist from Dubai Municipality.

AURAK faculty members Dr. Fernando and Dr. Tawfiq Abuhantash also gave respective presentations on integrating building technology into housing and traditional techniques for energy efficiency in Middle East housing.

Architecture students were given an opportunity to present their ideas to the experts and their peers in an interactive session, which were then discussed and evaluated in terms of how they could potentially benefit the ‘Al Bayt Al Kamel’ project.

AURAK president, Prof. Hassan Hamdan Al Alkim, praised the initiative, stating, “The vision of this university is to be a leading institution of higher education through the impact of its education and research on the region, and this is what we are doing. Through this project, we are working on developing a zero-energy house, which will ultimately be good for the environment and through its cost-effectiveness, good for communities who can then live in clean, modern housing.”