Architectural Digest Design Awards 2022 , Dubai/ Vereinigte Arabische Emirate

Press release by Art Jameel | waiwai

HAYY JAMEEL IN JEDDAH, WAIWAI'S FIRST MAJOR PUBLIC BUILDING, NAMED BEST CULTURAL PROJECT AT THE ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST DESIGN AWARDS 2022

Jeddah, 23 November 2022

• Hayy Jameel, Jeddah’s dedicated home for the arts, is designed by waiwai, an architecture studio with offices in Dubai, Tokyo and Riyadh

• The Architectural Digest Design Awards are the highest honour for design in the Middle East and North Africa, and Hayy Jameel was selected from more than 400 entries

• Hayy Jameel is developed and managed by Art Jameel, an independent organisation based in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that supports artists and nurtures creative communities

Hayy Jameel, Saudi Arabia's dedicated home for the arts – designed by architecture studio waiwai – received the MENA region’s ultimate accolade in architecture, interiors and product design, the Architectural Digest Design Awards 2022 for the Best Cultural Project category, selected from more than 400 entries. Hayy Jameel opened to the public in December 2021. The name of the complex references an Arabic word for neighbourhood, denoting its convivial and collaborative nature and its intent to bring together a wide range of creative disciplines in one destination.

The creative complex’s design has received multiple architectural accolades, including Gold in the Hong Kong Design Awards, Silver in the New York Design Awards, the Honour Award for Exceptional Design by the American Institute of Architects (Middle East chapter), and nominations for the 2A Continental Architectural Award and the London Design Awards. waiwai principal architect Wael Al Awar was awarded the Golden Lion for his curation of the UAE Pavilion at the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale. Hayy Jameel is the studio’s first major public building.

With the intent to be open to the city, Hayy Jameel provides a much-needed space for audiences of all ages and backgrounds to interact with art, film, music, architecture, performance, the culinary arts and more. Hayy Jameel’s recognition as Best Cultural Project at the Architectural Digest Design Awards 2022 acknowledges its critical position in the community and its proposal for an alternative idea of public space.

waiwai’s design for, and Art Jameel’s programming of, Hayy Jameel makes it the first institution of its kind in Saudi Arabia. Alongside the museum-like, laboratory space Hayy Arts and education platforms Hayy Explorers, Hayy Learning and Hayy Studios, is Hayy Cinema, Saudi Arabia’s first independent audiovisual centre, designed by Jeddah-based architects Bricklab, which opens to the public on December 6, 2022. Fenaa Hayy, a multi-purpose space for performances, workshops and talks opens onto Saha, a central community courtyard underpinned by philosophies of sustainability and adaptability.

In their design for this project, waiwai articulated a sensitivity to local conditions, a close reading of the immediate context, and an invitation to step out of the everyday, even for an afternoon. The space is specifically designed to foster open-ended dialogue and interactions, and to create the possibility for people to make new connections between art and everyday life.

Wael Al Awar, waiwai Founding Partner and Principal Architect, said, “I am honoured that waiwai’s work has been recognised with this award. For us, the opportunity to design Hayy Jameel as a unique art space and centre for creativity in Jeddah was a privilege. As architects, waiwai adopts a strategy that is rooted in ideas of living that resonate locally but that also take a careful and attentive wider view. The Hayy Jameel project offered us a context to approach and learn from while opening the city and the community to new possibilities.”

Antonia Carver, Art Jameel Director, said: “waiwai being awarded Architectural Digest’s Best Cultural Project for Hayy Jameel is thrilling for Art Jameel, for Jeddah and for the wider creative community. We’d like to thank the public that nominated and voted for us, and the esteemed jury and magazine editors for their deliberation. Hayy Jameel is designed with the community at heart, deliberately creating a space that is collaborative, dynamic and cross-disciplinary and that complements existing and forthcoming infrastructures in Jeddah and across Saudi Arabia. This home for the broadest range of creative disciplines is the result of the effort and passion of those audiences, artists, filmmakers and creatives, plus the Hayy Residents, a roster of leading creative businesses from around Jeddah. The community we’re creating here comes together daily in an exceptional exchange. We truly aspire for Hayy Jameel to be from Jeddah to Jeddah.”


PROJECT INFORMATION
Name: Hayy Jameel
Location: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Architect: waiwai
Client: Art Jameel


waiwai is an architectural, landscape, urban, interior and graphic design studio with offices in Dubai, Tokyo and Riyadh. Led by Wael Al Awar and Kazuma Yamao, the firm has worked on prominent cultural projects including the Jameel Arts Centre, Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park, CICOL and Hai d3 in Dubai; Otaru Harbor Café in Japan; Jeddah’s Hayy Jameel; and Wetland at the National Pavilion of the UAE, which was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2021. waiwai takes a highly contextual approach to address social, environmental and technological questions through design.

waiwai was named among the top 17 architects and top 50 influential designers of the year by Nikkei Magazine in 2019, recognized by Architectural Record's annual Design Vanguard issue as one of the top 10 emerging firms in the world in 2018, and included in Architectural Digest’s top 50 offices in the Middle East in 2017 and 2022. waiwai was a Shortlisted Nominee for the Aga Khan Architecture Award in 2019. The firm’s awards include the Golden Lion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2021; the Arab Architect Award in 2019; the New York Design Award 2018, Silver Medal; the Hong Kong Design Award 2018, Gold Medal; the First Prize at the AIA Middle East Design Awards in 2018; the London Design Award 2016, Silver Medal; and the SD Review Award, Tokyo, 2015, Shortlisted Nominee.


Hayy Jameel is developed and managed by Art Jameel as Saudi Arabia's dedicated arts complex and creative hub. Hayy Jameel, Jeddah, joins Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai – which opened in 2018 – in its efforts to build culture-oriented, connected communities. The complex was designed by waiwai, and its name references an Arabic word for neighbourhood, denoting the convivial and collaborative nature of the complex and its intent on bringing together a wide range of creative disciplines in one destination. Alongside the museum Hayy Arts and education platforms Hayy Explorers, Hayy Learning and Hayy Studios, is Hayy Cinema, Saudi Arabia’s first independent audiovisual centre, designed by Jeddah-based architects Bricklab. Fenaa Hayy, a multi-purpose space for performances, workshops and talks opens onto Saha, a central community courtyard underpinned by philosophies of sustainability and adaptability.


The Art Jameel–run non-commercial spaces are joined by Hayy Residents, a set of pioneering, homegrown creative enterprises that range from contemporary art and performance to design and publishing, culinary institutes, cafes and eateries.

The launch of Hayy Jameel in 2021 marked 75 years of Jameel family global philanthropies and is in line with Vision 2030, coming to fruition with a new era for the arts and creative sector across the Kingdom.


Art Jameel supports artists and creative communities. Founded and supported by the Jameel family philanthropies, the independent organisation is headquartered in Saudi Arabia and the UAE and works globally. Art Jameel’s programmes – across exhibitions, commissions, research, learning and community-building – are grounded in a dynamic understanding of the arts as fundamental to life and accessible to all.

Art Jameel’s two institutions – Hayy Jameel, a dedicated complex for the arts and creativity in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Jameel Arts Centre, an innovative contemporary institution in Dubai, UAE – are complemented by digital initiatives plus collaborations with major institutional partners and a network of practitioners across the world.

Art Jameel’s model is collaborative; major institutional partners include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Locally, the organisation works with individuals and organisations to develop innovative programming that embraces both ancient and new technologies, and encourages entrepreneurship and the development of cultural networks.


More information about the Winners of the Architectural Digest Design Awards 2022 can be found at:
www.admiddleeast.com/ad-awards/ad-awards-2022/winners-of-ad-design-awards-2022
www.admiddleeast.com/architectural-digest-middle-east-design-awards-2022