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On Monday 9/2/1436 AH, the President of the General Authority for Tourism and Antiquities, and the founder and president of Heritage Foundation, the Chairman of the Supreme Committee for Prince Sultan bin Salman Award for Architectural Heritage, His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz sponsored the ceremony of the 4th National Architectural Heritage Forum. The ceremony was held at the Headquarters of King Khalid University, Abha. The award is in its fifth round for the second year.
Upon the sponsor's arrival, the exhibition for the projects winning the Prince Sultan bin Salman's Award for Architectural Heritage was opened up. Additionally, the third exhibition of the projects of the students of architecture and planning faculties in the Saudi universities was opened too.
After that, the activities of the ceremony started with a word from the General Manager of the Heritage Foundation, who is also the Secretary General of the Award, Dr. Osama Al-Johari. In his word, Al-Johari thanked the University of Bahrain represented by the College of Engineering, for its efforts, as well as its embracing the activities of arbitration in spacious halls. He also thanked King Khalid University - Asir beacon, as it did great efforts to make the event successful. Then the audience watched a short film, which showed the stages of the award, concerns, and achievements.
Then it was the time for His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz's word, in which he clarified that the Kingdom was passing through a transitional period in the area of architectural heritage preservation, especially after the announcement of King Abdullah's Project for Cultural Heritage. The project is important and a pioneer for the present and the future of architectural heritage. He said, "We welcome you at the forum of the National Architectural Heritage, in the Asir Province, and we are proud that this award accompany this important event in this rooted edifice - King Khalid University. He added, "We are proud of this great activity as well as the expansion of the award works, which are obvious generally in the Arab world and the Gulf, and in particular, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." He explained the importance of the Asir region in this area where it is rich in many of the heritage sights, thus making it a destination for those who are interested in this field. Moreover, a lot of personalities who participated in unifying this blessed country are from this region.He also announced granting a Lifetime Achievement Award to the Minister of Education, His Royal Highness Prince Khalid Al-Faisal bin Abdul Aziz, as a result of the great effort he made in the field of archeology and architectural heritage. His Royal Highness Prince Khalid Al-Faisal accepted the Prince Sultan Award. On this occasion, he - Khalid Al-Faisal - gave a recorded word in which he expressed his pride in receiving the Prince Sultan bin Salman Architectural Heritage "lifetime Achievement Award ". He said," I know what I have done is not enough since I was a Governor of Asir and Mecca regions, reaching the responsibility of being the Minister of Education. I am not the best, but I pledge to continue to preserve our heritage depending on my responsibility at the Ministry of Education, whether in curriculum, activities or structures". Prince Khaled Al-Faisal added, "Saudi Arabia is the state of Islam, it has Islamic, Saudi, and Arabic identities that you feel when coming. So, it is necessary to keep this identity through preserving the architectural heritage, which must be taken into account in development projects in particular.
After that His Excellency the King Khalid University President, Dr. Abdulrahman Hamad Aldawood gave a word in which he expressed his pride in the university to host the Award ceremony. He reported that the Award was one of the most prominent supporting activities to raise awareness of architectural heritage among the students of the Saudi university . The University President also thanked His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Salman, who visited the university and honored the award ceremony with his attendance. Aldawood also announced the opening of the University Department of Architecture and Planning, starting from next year, in addition to conducting necessary studies to establish a faculty for Environment and Tourism and a Centre of Excellence for Architectural Heritage.
In conclusion, His Highness the Sponsor of the event honored the winners of professionals, students, supervisors, in addition to Arbitration and the Supreme Committees of the Award. He also honored King Khalid University and the Faculty of Engineering.
It is noteworthy that the university has organized a number of scientific sessions and workshops associated with the activities of the Forum. Session were about University education in the field of architectural heritage", "King Abdullah project to take care of cultural heritage in the KSA", as well as "the current status of Architectural Heritage", "the role of institutions and communities in rehabilitation and the development of architectural heritage". These sessions were presented by a number of interested personnel and specialists in the field of planning and architectural heritage.
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