NCCAL, College of Architecture hold exhibition
In collaboration with the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, the College of Architecture at Kuwait University held an exhibition showcasing the projects by the students from the interior architecture final year graduation studio at the College of Architecture, under the supervision of Dr. Lamis Behbehani, with the attendance of the head of College of Architecture Dr. Omar Khattab, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs Dr. Asseel Al Ragam, Sheikha Iman Al Salem Al Sabah and the National Council’s project Architect Hamad Al-Khaleefi on May 14, 2018 at the Museum of Modern Art in Kuwait City.
The exhibition consisted of 17 projects by the students, with each project providing different solutions and possibilities for the interior restoration and adaptive re-use of the historic Fahad Al-Salem Palace, situated in the Sharq region of Kuwait. Some of the projects included converting the palace into an architectural documentation and restoration center, youth center, wellness center, and ceremonial center and heritage hotel.
The studio team’s lead instructor Dr. Lamis Behbehani, a faculty member at the College of Architecture in Kuwait University, mentioned that the project took one semester to complete, and was achieved through regular communication between the studio team and directly with the Secretary General of the National Council for Culture and Arts Engineer Ali Al-Youha and through the National Council’s project architect Hamad Al-Khaleefi.
In addition, Dr. Behbehani expressed her gratitude for the efforts made by the National Council for supporting the project throughout the semester, and for providing the opportunities for the students to visit the palace. Furthermore, she emphasized that this project is unique of its kind for the reason of the collaboration and the prioritization of tangible and intangible architectural heritage of Kuwait in this year’s interior architecture graduation studio’s program. The collaboration enabled the team to get motivated and study the site and the palace more thoroughly, and to further appreciate the meaning of Kuwait’s remaining modern architectural heritage and the prominent historic local figures associated with them by everyone involved. She emphasized that such projects are fundamental for communicating the past architectural legacy of Kuwait to the new generations of architects and designers.
Furthermore, the National Council’s project architect, Hamad Al-Khaleefi, admired the collaboration between the two entities. He said that the university did help with the research of the site and the palace, provided details of the interiors, and submitted inspiring design proposals of the palace.