The Young Architects Competition (YAC) is one of the most important events and one of the main components of the Cairo Construction Hub that worked on introducing the Egyptian and international urban community to the role and creative abilities of young people in design, innovation and finding distinguished solutions. And as an investment for the success of the first edition of (CCH) in crystallizing the concept of urban partners, the makers of the Egyptian experience; the second edition of the Young Architects Competition comes to build on what has been established and launch to a broader and wider horizon. The Forum adopted the "Arab-African Partnership Initiative for Urbanism and Development" Which aims to strengthen inter-Arab cooperation between Arab and African countries in all activities and fields that have a positive impact on peoples in terms of showing the ultimate opportunities and capabilities available from the reality of integration and the distribution of roles to address the future in the language of partnership in vision and responsibility. Because of the common Arab-African affiliation and the historical role of Egypt, Cairo comes as the capital for launching this initiative, which is the first actual steps towards its development into an organization that possesses an independent legal personality. Therefore, the theme of this year’s competition was directed to the Arab and African youth in general and the Egyptian youth in particular, in order to present their design proposal to express partnership and cooperation in terms of form and function, and to enhance capabilities to achieve sustainable development and urbanization of man and place.
Designing the headquarters of the Arab-African Partnership for Urbanism and Development as a main headquarters in the city of Aswan, through which it is possible to hold meetings and practice events and programs that enable member states, through permanent delegates and members representing the initiative countries to exercise their roles in planning, following up, coordinating and supervising the implementation in all areas of the initiative.
The competition is available for ages up to 45 years old. ' It is allowed for teams to include members whose ages are over 45 years old, in addition to youth,as Advisor team member'
Ideas competition – International.
Individuals: 200 EGP.
Teams: 500 EGP for each team,
provided that each team does not exceed 5 members.
Individuals: 50 $.
Teams: 75 $ for each team,
provided that each team does not exceed 5 members.
The value indicated includes the value of the participants’ attendance fees for all scientific activities held during the Cairo International Construction Hub, including seminars, fora, and scientific lectures, and obtaining a copy of the competition book as well as all identification cards and participation certificates.
Aswan is an Egyptian icon of civilization, with its antiquities of the ancient Egyptians and Pharaonic architecture. It represents the depth of purely Egyptian civilization and climatically, Aswan is considered the most suitable Egyptian site for its climate similarity with that of most African countries, especially the central and western countries of the continent, which are characterized by a hot desert climate. Most of the Arab tribes that migrated in the past to Egypt are centered in Upper Egypt in general, and Aswan in particular due to the similarity in climatic and environmental conditions to most Arab countries. Therefore, the site represents a suitable place in terms of climatic and demographic aspects for most of the delegations whose presence is targeted.
The design must provide the elements necessary for the exercise of the following activities:
The main administrative headquarters is staffed by administrative officials to follow up and monitor existing projects in joint cooperation between Arab and African countries in the field of architecture and urbanism, provided that the headquarters include the work environment necessary for the completion of the administrative tasks, project follow-up and multilateral communication, and therefore the proposal must include a superior technological and digital structure for follow-up and communication.
The main administrative headquarters includes the following elements:
Permanent Center for Arab-African Culture: The headquarters should include a permanent Arab-African cultural center that includes open areas to display archaeological and heritage objects and models that may represent civilized elements or statues of leaders or other components of the Egyptian and Arab African heritage and civilizations from the member states, as well as a theater for displaying masterpieces of theatrical works for member states and a cinema hall for the same purposes.
Landscape works: The proposal should include landscape works that are compatible with the Arab and African environment and the prevailing atmosphere in Aswan and respecting the peculiarities of the site, which is reflected in the selection of plants that represent those environments, provided that the landscape spaces allow for the establishment of various activities in an open atmosphere such as parties, sports or cultural activities.
1. Showing the spirit of initiative and its goal in parallel with achieving the functional aspects of the project.
2. The specificity of Aswan's location and the cultural depth it represents in Egypt.
3. Showing the details and distinctive elements of African and Arab culture, emphasizing the cultural commonalities between them, and merging them with other design components.
4.Show the spirit of modernity and contemporary as a symbol of the future of the member states of the initiative.
5.Preserving the surrounding environment and conforming to it urbanely.
6. The Nile could represent a design function to show the Egyptian-African connection as a lifeline for peoples and a symbol of cooperation.
7. The design can show what Egypt represents in construction and what is expected to be presented to the member states in this field so that it shows Egypt's urban leadership since ancient times.
8. The design should take into account the requirements and challenges resulting from climate change and how to handle them.
1.The design must take into account all environmental sustainability standards, requirements of green architecture, and methods of preserving materials, especially water and energy.
2.The design must comply with the requirements of LEED for green architecture.
3.The design must comply with and respect the urban surroundings and the nature and privacy of the site.
4.The design should show the cultural depth of the site and the symbolism and function of the proposed design.
5.The design must take into account the maximum operational efficiency of the building.
6.The design takes into account the maximum degree of flexibility.
7.Challenges of adapting to climate change.
1.Compatibility with the urban environment and respect for the privacy and cultural depth of the site
2.Visual communication and harmony
3.Operational Efficiency
4.Environmental sustainability standards and resource conservation
5.The ability to integrate cultures that is required to be demonstrated by design
6.Achieving maximum comfort according to the nature of use of the various components of the project
7.Design creativity and aesthetic criteria for design components
8.Meeting the requirements of climate challenges and compatibility
9.Compatibility of interior design elements and the function
10.Showing the spirit of Arab-African partnership through the elements of architectural formation
11.The extent to which the design reflects the considerations of climate change and the transition to the comprehensive concept of sustainability
1.Proposals shall be submitted on drawings printed on foam (70 * 100 cm) in size, with a minimum of 2 drawings and a maximum of 4 “portrait” drawings unless otherwise requested later, provided that the drawings are numbered from the first to the last followed by the team code.
2.A technical report printed by the team in both English and Arabic to explain the idea, design philosophy, project elements, and materials proposed for use. It consists of a minimum of 750 words for each language and is sent in the name of the technical report followed by the team code.
3.A video in a format suitable for presentation to show and explain the project, its duration does not exceed 5 minutes, with the voice of an accompanying explanation “VOICE OVER” provided that no people appear during the explanation and does not include any identifying information about the designed team and is named by the team code
4.Soft Copy of drawings and technical report
Each team or participant sends a Folder file to the e-mail attached to it a picture of the participant or participants and a picture of the university or union’s ID card, provided that the pictures are named with the names of their owners in English. The Folder is named with the team identification code - with a copy of the subscription form printed, filled out and sent with the aforementioned file.
- Presenting the project in the competition book, which will be issued and distributed during the award ceremony.
- Presenting the project on the digital platform of Cairo Construction Hub.
- Accredited certificates from the organizers to all team members.
- Honoring the winning team of the Urban Partners Shield in the ceremony of announcing the results by the jury and the organizers
- Presenting the project in the competition book, which will be issued and distributed during the award ceremony.
- Presenting the project on the digital platform of Cairo Construction Hub.
- Accredited certificates from the organizers to all team members.
- Announcing the name of the winner on the honoring platform.
All the teams and individuals participating in the competition and whose projects were valued by the jury receive certificates of participation approved by the organizer confirming their valuable participation in the competition.
The jury may withhold any of the previous prizes according to the level of the projects submitted to the competition, and it may also submit more than one project to win the prize equally.