The winners of the Science City International Architectural Competition have been announced by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. This competition was a one-stage open international competition for a comprehensive plan and conceptual design; organized in accordance with the UNESCO regulations for international competitions in architecture and town-planning upheld by the International Union of Architects (UIA).

The organization has announced the winners of the Science City International Architectural Competition today and  held at the Small Theater of the BA Conference Center, together with the press conference and opening the exhibition for the public till 30 August.

The main approach of design of science city was to create a set of buildings and spaces that can be inspiring on the outside and motivating and exciting on the inside to visitors and employees alike. It should have expressed a particular vision of the search for knowledge and the pursuit of science.

Humans interact with one another and with nature. They explore the limitless universe and the inner self and the subtlety and complexity of these explorations and social relations form the web of life. Such explorations result in expressions that the competition has come to call Art or Science. But exploration is at the root of being human from our youngest years to the winter of our lives.

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the New Library of Alexandria, aspired to implement a landmark honouring the enterprise of science. In light of its mission, the Library of Alexandria has endorsed a science city project by organizing an open, one stage international architectural competition for the comprehensive master plan and conceptual design. 

The new “Science City” complex will be built on the western edge of Cairo, in the heart of the 6th of October City. This new complex, to be constructed on prime land, calls for inspiring new comprehensive master plan and conceptual design; that will ultimately create the first 21st century science museum, learning and research facility in Egypt.

Ceremony recorded webcast. Please be advised that for those who didn’t attend the prizes ceremony, a recorded webcast is available at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina webcast service. Please check the following link!

See the full list of the winners for the competition below:

1st prize: WestonWilliamson + Partners

2nd prize: Ngiom Partnership

3rd prize: Zaha Hadid Architects

4th prize: Gansam Architects & Partners 

Honorable Mention prize: Petras Architecture & XCON Housos

Honorable Mention prize: Joaquim Caetano de Lima Filho, Daniel Henrique Ribeiro, Giliarde Silva, Guilherme Oliveira, Lucas Moretti, Raissa Shizue.

Honorable Mention prize: Francisco Jorquera

Honorable Mention prize: Whitespace Architects

The jury members for the competition were: Ismail Serageldin, Director of Bibliotheca Alexandrina, (Egypt), Michael Sorkin, American Author, Architect and Educator (USA), Seif Allah A. Alnaga, UIA Egyptian National Section President, (Egypt), Nikos Fintikakis, UIA Representative  and UIA Council member, (Greece), Suha Ozkan, Founder and President “World Architecture Community”, (Turkey), Mohsen Mostafavi, Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, (USA), Claudie Haignere, President of Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, Former Minister Delegate in charge of Research and New Technologies, (France).

All images courtesy of Bibalex

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