Cristina Greavu and Peter Elsbeck, both graduate students in architecture in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, have earned an honorable mention as part of an international urban design competition sponsored by the High Commission for the Development of Arriyadh.
The High Commission — chaired by HRH Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz, the Governor of the Arriyadh Province — oversees strategic planning, infrastructure development, and management of urban, economic, architectural, heritage and cultural programs for Arriyadh, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The competition, titled “A Neighborhood … Residence and Life,” asked entrants to rethink housing and neighborhood design in Arriyadh by planning a new “superblock” development in the north of the city. Over the next 25 years, housing demand in Arriyadh is expected to increase by 30 to 40 thousand units annually and organizers hoped to generate a range of ideas for overcoming problems within the city’s existing residential neighborhoods, particularly developments that have sprung up since the 1970s. Major issues include a shortage of schools, public gardens and other public services, as well as a lack of parking, a lack of privacy and insufficient pedestrian networks.
Elsbeck and Greavu drew on principles Arriyadh’s traditional urban form and addressed contemporary demands for more open space by integrating and connecting socially, civically and institutionally significant public spaces through a system of greenways that also branch into walkable connections throughout most of the neighborhood’s residential sectors. The proposal thus accounted for the car while simultaneously minimizing vehicular impact on the residents.
Greavu and Elsbeck also give credit to Saurin Shah, a recent graduate of Washington University, for his collaboration in the very early stages of the design.
The 10-member design jury was chaired by Abdel Halim Ibrahim, professor of architectural design at Cairo University in Cairo, Egypt. In all, the competition drew more than 70 entries from 35 countries. In March 2007, the entries will be featured as part of special exhibition held in conjunction with the High Commission’s 3rd International Housing Symposium in Riyadh.
For more information about the symposium, visit www.housing3udc.com.