Labour camp design wins graduate Young Architect of the Year award

DUBAI // It was not simply her eye for design, but her compulsion to address issues of social justice in her designs that won May Barber the first Cityscape Architecture Award for Young Architect of the Year on Monday. The 22-year-old American University of Sharjah graduate received the award for her graduation project for her bachelor's degree in architecture - a progressive and compassionate redesign of labour camps.

"I chose to do the labour camps because it is a sensitive issue and something that is not considered enough in design," she said. "In this postmodern city, I thought, why not introduce postmodern design into the labour camps." The Young Architect of the Year award, introduced this year, was announced on the opening night of the World Architecture Congress, which is running concurrently with Cityscape Dubai.

Initiated by Meraas Development, it aims to promote the development of design and architecture professionals in the region. Ms Barber said that after several visits to labour camps in Sharjah she was struck by how many people were living in small confined spaces, and was moved by small human elements - such as laundry hanging outside the buildings - that gave life to the otherwise depressing complexes.

"I thought, 'I can't come up with a law to make these people's lives better, so why not do it through architecture'," she said. Since contractors who let the labour camps try to spend as little money as possible on building them, Ms Barber said she used inexpensive materials such as concrete and focused on designing the accommodation that would enable workers to express their individuality. "A better lifestyle doesn't need better materials," she said. "These people need space. I designed the housing in such a way that each apartment could only accommodate two people.

"I saw eight people sleeping in one room on a concrete floor. What they really need is space and a design that creates a city for these people, who are very community orientated." The young architect has been approached by developers and contractors from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait interested in using her design. jhume@thenational.ae