Organizers of the National Built Heritage Forum at Jeddah Hilton have encouraged visits by school students to an exhibition held on the sidelines of the forum that was launched on Monday by Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal. The exhibition was instrumental in changing the perception of students toward heritage.

“Heritage has great importance and value as it reflects our identity and personality. It is our duty to protect national heritage,” said 16-year-old student Muhammad Abdullah Al-Qahtani after visiting the show. “The forum gave me an opportunity to learn more about our culture and heritage,” he added.

Fellow student Musaed Al-Qurashi, 15, agreed. “I had thought that heritage was only related to food and clothing of the past. Today I have learned old places and buildings speak a lot about our history,” he said.

Tasnim Samarqandi, a student of the Interior Design Department at KAU, believes that architectural engineering with all its branches could play a big role in preserving heritage. “I also believe that our public and private sectors can contribute a lot to protecting the country’s architectural heritage.”

Samarqandi said preservation of heritage is not the duty of municipalities alone. “It’s a national duty and all citizens should play their role in protecting them,” she said, adding that the workshops and discussions at the forum had explained ways and means citizens could preserve heritage.

Nouran Al-Johani, meanwhile, highlighted the value of architectural heritage, saying it helps people to understand history. “I am sure that the Prince Sultan Prize would certainly contribute to highlighting the value of architectural heritage. It will also encourage us to link our studies, jobs and life with national heritage built by our forefathers over the centuries.”

Tutor Aisha Iskandarani, an interior design graduate and participant in the project that won the first prize, said the award was instrumental in inspiring students and encouraging them to work hard to win the top place. “The prize also helped us in deepening our knowledge about architectural heritage.”

She believed that the forum was successful in creating awareness about the importance of architectural heritage.

Anwar Al-Aqabi, another KAU graduate and one of the prize winners, shared Iskandarani’s views and said the forum helped in removing many wrong perceptions from the minds of people about architectural heritage.

He said architectural engineering, interior design and environmental construction are all closely related to architectural heritage.