An Algerian project wins the Arab Housing and Construction Ministers Council Award for the year 2024 – Algerian Dialogue

Today, Tuesday, at the International Convention Center in Algiers, the award of the Council of Arab Ministers of Housing and Construction for the year 2024 was awarded, which was won by the project to establish 169 residential housing in the city of Tipaza, with its integrated service facilities.

The award was handed over by the Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Economic Affairs Sector of the Arab League, Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Maliki, during a ceremony organized within the activities of the Eighth Arab Housing Conference, held under the high patronage of the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

The award, organized this year on the theme of “implemented Arab housing with an identity,” aims to highlight the importance of the Arab and Islamic architectural cultural heritage, the necessity of preserving it, enriching it, developing it, and inspiring it in thought and content, and to encourage the spirit of competition and creativity among Arab architects, engineers, and technicians in the field of practical solutions from their artistic heritage. Architectural and engineering in particular and Arab-Islamic architectural and engineering technician in general.

It also aims to urge the younger Arab generations to become familiar with the principles of Arab-Islamic architecture and encourage innovation and development, relying on the vocabulary of heritage in accordance with the foundations of Arab-Islamic architecture and the city.

The second prize, within the framework of the same competition, went to a residential project in the Tal Al-Aqarib area in Cairo Governorate, Egypt, while the third prize was shared by two projects from Saudi Arabia (the city of Jeddah) and the Emirates.

On this occasion, incentive prizes were given to three real estate projects in Algeria (the Colonnade House), the “Al Bayda” building in Jordan, and the “Alternative Housing Project” in Egypt.

On the sidelines of the awards distribution, the National Center for Research Applied to Anti-Earthquake Engineering and the Arab Center for the Prevention of Earthquake Hazards and Other Natural Disasters signed a memorandum – a framework for cooperation that would open up opportunities for partnership in the field of transferring Algeria’s expertise to Arab countries through the Algerian Center in the field of cooperation. Studies and research on buildings and their resistance to earthquakes and soil studies, in order to formulate regulatory texts and standards for earthquake-resistant construction.

Prospects for transferring Algerian experience in the field of earthquake risk prevention

Abdel Hakim Bashtoula explained in a statement to Waj that the signed agreement opens the horizons of partnership between the Center and all Arab countries through the Arab Center for the Prevention of the Risks of Earthquakes and Other Natural Disasters, by making the Algerian Center’s laboratories and the services it provides in the field of experiments in this field available to similar Arab bodies.

The Algerian Center, which was established in 1987, is a public body whose mission is to study seismic activity and the behavior of buildings, in order to formulate and improve regulations and technical building systems, as well as train technical personnel and disseminate information to translate research results into practical practice, with strict application of technical building regulations, including seismic regulations. .

Therefore, this body affiliated with the Ministry of Housing focuses its activities on specialized studies, training, media and communication, according to Mr. Bashtoula.

For its part, the Arab Center for the Prevention of the Risks of Earthquakes and Other Natural Disasters, which held its founding general assembly in 2014 in Algeria, is considered one of the bodies of the League of Arab States. Its mission is to diagnose and determine the locations and ranges of earthquakes, identify places exposed to torrents, floods, and landslides, and identify areas containing geological voids. In residential areas, while encouraging scientific and technical cooperation between various member states, as well as strengthening the capabilities of Arab countries in managing natural disasters and mitigating their effects.

The Minister of Housing, Urbanism and the City, Mohamed Tariq Belaribi, supervised, this Tuesday morning, the opening of the Eighth Arab Housing Conference, which will last 3 days, in the presence of members of the government, the Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Economic Sector of the League of Arab States, Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Maliki, and the ministers. The Arabs in charge of the housing sector, along with the Chinese Minister of Housing, Urbanism and City, Ni Hong, members of the diplomatic corps, officials of institutions and bodies affiliated with the sector, experts and researchers.