The Amman Lab Workshop is an intensive three week exploration of emergent issues concerning contemporary public space in the Middle East. With the city of Amman serving as an active testing ground, students and faculty from universities throughout the region collaborate to expand their understanding of design issues through research, experimentation, discussion and feedback.
The 2010 session of the workshop focuses on Comfort. As a precondition of public space, Comfort is necessary to provide an environment in which assembly and exchange may occur. With physical, virtual, sensorial and emotional attributes, Comfort can be expressed through different mediums and at varying scales. It is delicate, elusive, and necessary.
The workshop ends with an exhibition of the students’ final work at the Nabad Art Gallery and we want to invite you visit it and check what the students are developing these days.
EXHIBITION OPENING OF STUDENT WORK
6:30PM AUGUST 5, 2010
Free and open to the public
Nabad Art Gallery
46 Uthman bin Affan Street, First Circle
Amman, Jordan
PARTICIPANTS:
Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
American University of Sharjah, College of Architecture, Art and Design
Birzeit University, Department of Architectural Engineering
Jordan University of Science and Technology, College of Architecture and Design
ORGANIZED BY:
Amman Lab, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Mark Wigley, Dean
Malwina Łyś-Dobradin, Global Network Programming Director
Jennifer Broutin, Amman Lab Workshop Director
Kamal Farah, Amman Lab Workshop Director
Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation’s Amman Lab opened within the Columbia University Middle East Research Center (CUMERC) in March 2009 and includes a studio workshop, seminar room, offices and exhibition space. The Amman Lab is a regional research laboratory for exploring the future of the built environment. Studies of city planning processes, historic preservation projects, architectural design and urban planning studios have already been conducted, engaging local experts and organizations throughout the process. GSAPP teams are collaborating with the city of Amman to restore a historic house that will act as the future downtown Studio-X Amman.
Columbia University Middle East Research Center (CUMERC)
Dr. Safwan Masri, Director
Aya Khairy, Program Manager
Christina Hawatmeh, Program Officer
The Columbia University Middle East Research Center is one of the first in a network of Columbia Global Centers the University has launched around the world. The Center, headquartered in Amman, Jordan, provides a base for scholarly activities throughout the Middle East, advancing the University’s academic partnerships and programs in the region. The Center establishes a community where faculty engage in onsite research, scholars collaborate to offer training and develop research initiatives, students experience the Middle East firsthand, and regional alumni build networks and interact directly with the University. The activities of CUMERC include a wide range of disciplines, fostering communication and collaboration in a dynamic region.