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Issam
Fares and John Waterbury unveiling the plaque during the December 14, 2004
groundbreaking ceremony for the Issam Fares Institute |
The competition
process has begun for the design of the Issam Fares Institute for Public
Policy and International Affairs. A group of five architectural firms
visited the future site of the new building on November 18, where they
received informational packets containing landscape, engineering, and
architectural design guidelines, as well as general information about the
mission of the institute. The firms now have ten weeks to come up with their
design concepts, which will then be submitted to a jury of local and
international experts, chaired by President Waterbury.
According to the current time frame, a winner will be selected in February
2006, and the firm chosen will have a year to come up with a complete design
for the building. After that, construction is expected to take one and a
half years, with a tentative completion date of September 2008. The future
institute will be erected at the site of the Gulbenkian Infirmary, which is
scheduled to be relocated to Building 56 on the AUB Medical Center campus
during summer 2006.
The Issam Fares Institute will complete the group of buildings surrounding
the Green Oval and, as such, it must blend in architecturally and integrate
with the existing open spaces and vegetation. As the design guidelines point
out, the architects need to “meet the challenge of creating a contemporary
building in a cherished historical context.” It is required that almost all
the trees near the current infirmary be preserved, including seven species
and comprising a total of 41 trees.
Guidelines for the building’s interior take into account the different users
of the Issam Fares Institute, particularly the researchers and other experts
who will form the backbone of the think tank. Research space, as well as a
state-of-the-art reading room and a resource database, will be provided for
use by visiting scholars, faculty, journalists, diplomats, and policy
makers. Collaboration between scholars and other experts, a hallmark of the
institute, will be facilitated by the inclusion of a high-tech workshop and
conference area, with video-conferencing capability and the latest in
audiovisual and communications technology.
While the Facilities Planning and Design Unit is focusing on its
consultations with the architectural firms in the design of the building
that will house the institute, preliminary planning of the critical work to
be undertaken by the institute is also under way. So far, two meetings to
serve this end have been held: one of AUB faculty members with interest and
academic experience in public policy and international affairs; and one to
which actual policy makers, public officials, and representatives from the
business community were invited to discuss issues that the institute may
address and propose possible strategies for moving the work forward.
The main goal of the Issam Fares think tank, as explained in the competition
booklet, is “to inform and enrich debates on public policy and international
affairs and promote good governance in these areas.”
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