Within the scope of a protocol signed by the Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Rector’s Office, EMU Architecture Faculty and Tülin Behaeddin (the wife of Turkish Cypriot modernist architect Ahmet Vural Behaeddin), the 8th student awards competition took place with the aim of keeping Ahmet Vural Behaeddin’s work and memory alive. Participation was significantly high.
The EMU Architecture Faculty delivered prizes in a total of four categories after jury evaluations were carried out. The competition was attended by 3rd and 4th year students of Architecture and Interior Architecture Departments of Turkish and Turkish Cypriot universities. There were a total of 128 applications from 19 institutions for the competition with the format that required students to transform their projects from the indicated academic year into poster presentations.
The Award Ceremony Took Place at the Naci Talat Foundation
The EMU Architecture Faculty Ahmet Vural Behaeddin Commission comprised of President / Architecture Faculty Vice Dean Assoc. Prof. Dr. Banu Tevfikler Çavuşoğlu, Prof. Dr. Mukaddes Polay, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zehra Öngül and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dr. Kağan Günçe held a spectacular award ceremony at the Naci Talat Foundation building in Nicosia.
Nicosia Turkish Municipality Mayor Mehmet Harmancı was also in attendance at the ceremony where those who contributed to Ahmet V. Behaeddin’s work were delivered plaques. Indicating that he has left us a legacy of valuable architectural artefacts, Mayor Harmancı stated that Ahmet V. Behaeddin occupies an important place for Nicosia. Mayor Harmancı concluded by stating that they can develop projects with the EMU Architecture Faculty to hand down Ahmet V. Behaeddin’s memory and architecture to future generations.
The Jury was Comprised of Professionals and Cash Prizes Awarded
The general coordinator of the 2019 Ahmet Vural Behaeddin Student Awards Competition was Ekrem Ziver Bodamyalızade and the coordinator of the competition was Assoc. Prof. Dr. Banu Tevfikler Çavuşoğlu. The prestigious guest jury members from Turkey and Cyprus included important architects, interior architects, chamber presidents and representatives such as Nevzat Sayın, Esat Fişek, Ertuğ Ertuğrul, Ebru Olgun, Çağdaş Özgece and Resul Ergün. All competition participants were delivered certificates and cash prizes were awarded to winners of the different categories under the sponsorship of Tülin Behaeddin. The winners of the competition are as follows:
Architecture 4th Year Category - Salem A. Bader (EMU)
Architecture 3rd Year Category - Ayberk Özdemir (MEF)
Interior Architecture 4th Year Category - Malek Baher Jaroudi (EMU)
Interior Architecture 3rd Year Category - Maide Pelin Türk (Başkent University)
Projects will be Exhibited Until the 1st of November 2019
In a podcast, Jury President Nevzat Sayın touched upon Architect Ahmet V. Behaeddin’s adoption of Mediterranean geography as an international language and emphasis of modernity in architecture. President Sayın also stated that the competition has raised the bar and provided clues about important decision for the future.
The podcast episode can be accessed from the following link: https://m.soundcloud.com/emupodcasts/mimar-nevzat-sayin-ahmet-vural-behaeddin-ve-akdeniz-modernizmi. After the important competition, EMU Architecture Faculty Dean Prof. Dr. Özgür Dinçyürek thanked everyone for their contributions and stated that the competition work will be published into a book. The competition project exhibition can be visited until the 1st of November 2019.
