Fransabank announced on Monday, June 15th, the 3 winners’ names of the “WeDesign”, a competition which was launched earlier in February, targeting students of architecture of all universities in Lebanon, who participated and submitted the most adapted facelift of the Bank's headquarters, a landmark in Hamra Street. The initiative comes within Fransabank’s commitment to invest in promising talents among youth, encouraging their potentials and, most importantly, rewarding their creativity. The awards ceremony which was held in the Headquarters of the Bank was attended by Fransabank Group’s Chairman HE Mr. Adnan Kassar, Vice Chairman Mr. Adel Kassar, and representatives of the Bank, along with a group of deans, professors, students, parents, and the jury panel which was comprised of 5 distinguished architects.
The competition, launched earlier in February, focused on artistic and technical merits and featured an outstanding jury panel that reviewed the submitted projects and selected the top 10 designs. These 10 finalists were requested to submit a 3D model of their proposal. In the awards ceremony, the top 3 finalists received their cash prizes. 1st place went to Bahaa el Dine Abou Khoudoud (Beirut Arab University) who received $10.000, 2nd place went to Marc Matta (University of Balamand) who received $2000, and in the 3rd Place was Amani Omairi (Beirut Arab University) who received $1000.
“Fransabank has always demonstrated its strong belief in future generations and worked at promoting them through a diverse range of contributions,” said Mrs. Dania Kassar, Head of Marketing and Communication Department.
“Fransabank believes that today’s students are the hope for a better future, and that we must continue to invest in them. In this respect, the initiative exemplifies the Bank’s commitment to the next generation,” Kassar added.
In her turn, Ms. Raida Daouk, Fransabank’s Strategy Coordinator, congratulated the winners and commented, “Our Bank Competition brought out talented young architects and gave them the momentum to achieve excellence in their pursuit of designing. In this context, the initiative aims at preserving the rich genre of Architecture and offers a thrilling opportunity for students to be inspired by the famous architects Alvar Aalto and Alfred Roth, by whom Fransabank’s building was designed. When originally built in the mid-60s, it was an impressive symbol of modernist architecture in Lebanon.”
Daouk added, “The higher goal was to challenge students to express and capture their view of the existing building façade and the surrounding plaza that represents Fransabank’s positive image and dynamic corporate culture, while remaining loyal to the original architects’ spirit.”
The students were overjoyed at winning the awards and at having the chance to participate in such a big competition .The announcement of prizes was followed by a friendly cocktail ceremony.