The Department of Architecture and Urban Planning (DAUP) at Qatar University College of Engineering (QU-CENG) held its 13th Architecture Day. The opening ceremony was attended by QU President Dr. Hassan Al-Derham, HE Ambassador of Italy in Qatar, Mr. Alessandro Prunas, CENG Dean Dr. Khalid Kamal Naji, and distinguished guests from the industry and academia, QU faculty members, staff and students.
The event provided DAUP students with the opportunity to present and display their architectural projects designed under the supervision of DAUP faculty and in collaboration with governmental institutions and industry partners and architectural practices. The projects covered various topics such as hospitality, touristic villages, housing, mosques, cultural centers, health care and sports facilities.
In his speech, Dr. Hassan Al-Derham, President of QU said, “Over the last decade, the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning has become an increasingly important part of Qatar University's story. Our architecture and urban planning graduates have embarked on their professional careers to become essential players in the Qatari government, industry, and society. Architecture Day is an annual opportunity to display our future professionals' immense drive and talent in architecture and urban planning and discuss the future of architecture education and practice in the State of Qatar and the GCC Region. Whenever I visit Qatar University's Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, I come away proud and amazed of the incredible talent, unbridled creativity, and ingenious solutions being nurtured here in our students.”
Commenting on the event, CENG Dean Dr. Khalid Naji stressed on the cemented relations with industry represented in the success of students' projects displayed during the 13th Architecture Day. “Students' projects reflect CENG's commitment to show the innovation and quality of teaching which comes in line with Qatar National Vision 2030 pillars in order to graduate the engineers and architects who can achieve QNV,” he added.
DAUP Head Dr. Rafaello Furlan mentioned, “Today’s event represents the outcomes of the tremendous efforts and hard work of our students, faculty members and the support of our governmental collaborators and industrial partners. The architectural exhibition, the academics-practitioners debate and related student activities provide a wide range of architectural and urban design projects that feature the profession and community needs and aspirations in enhancing our cities and buildings. At DAUP we aim to provide a design that provides healthy wellbeing, and provide users with spaces, buildings and cities that deliver more resilient sustainable futures by adopting a flexible yet interactive contextual architecture.”
Source: QATAR UNIVERSITY