The Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi has announced the winner of the Abu Dhabi Art Pavilion Prize. The first year of the Prize will see Abu Dhabi Art partnering with the British Council on this initiative, as part of the UK/UAE 2017 Year of Creative Collaboration.

Abu Dhabi Pavilion Prize is an initiative inviting university students and recent graduates from across the country to develop an architectural design proposal for a pavilion and social hub at Abu Dhabi Art. As part of the fair’s programme to nurture and support creative talent across the United Arab Emirates, the winning design will be showcased at the ninth edition of Abu Dhabi Art, which will take place from 8th to 11th November, 2017.

The winning pavilion will also be exhibited at the British Ambassador’s residence for two months following the fair’s conclusion, where it will be used as a social space for guests of the British Embassy.

Dyala Nusseibeh, Director of Abu Dhabi Art, said, "The Abu Dhabi Art Pavilion Prize is a unique platform that will allow aspiring architecture students in the UAE the opportunity to exhibit their designs to a global audience of visitors and to gain experience in the production of a public project at an early stage in their career. We were hugely impressed with the quality of entries for the competition this year and look forward to seeing the winning work realised in November."

Previous editions of Abu Dhabi Art saw the architectural design initiative commissioned to already established, practicing architects and artists. Abu Dhabi Art’s first Architecture Statement presented the UAE Pavilion by Foster + Partners. The second year brought the Souk concept by Shigeru Ban, and in 2014 Abu Dhabi Art’s Architectural Statement was Artyfact, a permanent retail store structure by Anarchitect.

In 2015, the Architecture Statement presented the concept of the Louvre Abu Dhabi dome as explained and presented by its architect, Jean Nouvel, who designed the Louvre Abu Dhabi as a museum integrated into the traditional landscape of the UAE. In 2016, Street Art was presented as part of the Architecture Statement.

In contrast, this year saw the initiative opened up to university students as a competition for the first time. Two students of architecture at the American University of Sharjah, AUS, Salwa Al Khudairi and Nada Al Mulla, were selected as the winners of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Art Pavilion Prize, with Eman Mohammed, from Abu Dhabi University, selected as runner-up.

The entries were judged by a panel of leading personalities in art and architecture and the winning proposals were selected based on the both functionality and the aesthetic merit of their design.

Commenting on their achievement, Salwa and Nada said, "We are very grateful for this opportunity to create and showcase our work to over 20,000 visitors at Abu Dhabi Art and honoured that it will be installed at the British Ambassador’s residence for two months afterwards. Winning the competition has nurtured our drive and ambition as designers. Through the Abu Dhabi Art Pavilion Prize, we were given the chance to utilise the education provided by AUS. We hope this will act as a strong foundation for our future advancement in the field of architecture."

In line with the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi’s role as strategic partners of the UK/UAE 2017 Year of Creative Collaboration, the Abu Dhabi Art Pavilion Prize was launched in partnership with the British Council, who are leading the year-long festival in the UAE under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and H.R.H. Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales.

Creativity and innovation are at the heart of the programme of cultural exchange and collaboration which supports the development of the creative industries in the UAE by providing youth with access to skills, cultural activities and experts to inspire them to pursue careers within the creative industries.