AUC’s new Cairo campus receives land use award
The American University in Cairo received a Special Award from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) for the construction and design of the new campus. The Institute noted that the new campus is “designed to be a tool and stimulus in itself for learning and to anchor community development around the university.”
AUC Trustee Bruce L. Ludwig, chairman of Ludwig & Company, a real estate consulting firm in Los Angeles concentrating on the Middle East, noted that this award places the new campus in the forefront of higher education institutions in Egypt and the Middle East. “The new campus is designed to support a liberal arts education, which fosters creative thinking and reasoning, community-based learning and a harmonious environment in a diversified community. The new campus also provides our students and faculty with cutting-edge facilities and state-of-the-art resources required for a global university.”
Selected from among 39 entries representing 17 countries, the new campus received the award based on five main characteristics: environmental responsive design through the use of passive architectural measures for an energy efficient campus; architectural design that reflects the university mission in a modern expression of traditional architecture; community development through producing means for community interaction and cultural development; state of the art information technology enhancing learning activities within indoor and outdoor spaces; and a campus that itself is a learning tool and stimulus for liberal arts learning.
A jury of land use development and design experts selected the 2009 ULI EMEA Awards for Excellence. “These are wonderful examples of success that showcase creativity, innovation, and long-term thinking,” said jury chair Ian D. Hawksworth, managing director, Capital & Counties, London. “Perhaps now more than ever, the ULI Awards for Excellence program reminds us of the key difference that responsible design and development can make in terms of longevity and overall community sustainability.”
Designed to accommodate 5,500 full-time students and 1,500 faculty and staff, AUC’s 260-acre campus is technologically advanced and environmentally sensitive offering state-of-the-art resources to students and faculty from around the world. The new campus weaves Egyptian urban and architectural traditions into a modern campus and is designed to be accessible to persons with disabilities. The master plan and site infrastructure design of the new campus came from Boston Design Collaborative. They were expanded into architectural design principles and community context by Sasaki and Associates of Watertown, Massachusetts and Abdel-Halim Community Design Collaborative of Cairo.
The American University in Cairo (AUC) was founded 90 years ago and is major contributor to the social, political and cultural life of the Arab Region. It is a vital bridge between East and West, linking Egypt and the region to the world through scholarly research, partnerships with academic and research institutions, and study abroad programs. An independent, nonprofit, apolitical, non-sectarian and equal opportunity institution, AUC is fully accredited in Egypt and the United States.
