Libya’s Architecture on the Brink

March 7, 2011 | Maryam Eskandari

featured in NYC Elan magazine

In the past couple of years, Libya has been on the forefront on cutting edge architecture. Competing with other Middle Eastern countries, such as Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar, Libya has been able to keep up with the “architecture boom” that has been on the rise in that region. However, several days ago, when the Security Council of the United Nation slapped a 15-0 vote sanctions on Libya in hopes to send a strong message to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi; many of the architectural firms stepped up to support the United Nation decision. The international firms that have on-going projects have all vowed that they would never work in Libya, under Gaddafi’s regime and have suspended all projects.

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RMJM: win islamic architecture award for zliten campus, libya

Oct 10, 2009 | designBoom

RMJM architects have received the islamic architecture award for their work on
the zliten campus at asmariya university for islamic sciences in Libya at the cityscape
awards in dubai, 2009.

the zliten campus is a new branch of al asmariya university, located 75 miles southeast
of tripoli. RMJM’s architects designed a campus master plan for the development of
the 202-acre site. core academic functions are organized in four quadrants within
a perimeter habitable wall that houses faculty offices and academic support functions.

with a total build-out of more than 1 million square feet, the new campus provides
academic and support buildings, a conference and student center as well as
administration, library, recreation and residential spaces for a population of 4,600 students.