New Zealand: Muslim student, whose brother died in Christchurch massacre, winner of national architecture competition

How to overcome the cruel loss of a loved one, in this case a protective and admired older brother, and the trauma that his cowardly and barbaric assassination, on Friday March 15, 2019, in one of the two mosques in Christchurch, caused ?

At the end of four trying years, marked by the tragedy which horrified his country, New Zealand, bloodied two sacred Muslim precincts, and devastated the fate of 51 faithful – children, women and men – including that of his big brother Atta, 33 years old, Abdallah Ellayan only found peace by taking refuge in work.

Overwhelmed with grief, this brilliant Muslim architecture student ended up seeing his passion for the visual arts and geometry slowly reborn over the months, while his deep pain slowly eased.

A pain that will certainly never fade, any more than the memory, forever engraved in his heart, of this brother, husband and father esteemed by all, who enthusiastically swapped his hat as CEO of LazywormApps (a company specializing in High Tech) for that of goalkeeper of the national futsal team.

Gradually, Abdallah Ellayan rediscovered the inspiration that had dried up under the effect of the terrible emotional shock, his abstract sketches taking shape on paper, before his concept of “Faith in Fiordland” materialized. in Fiordland”, the largest park in the country).

Absorbed by the preparation of the prestigious national architecture competition, he gradually managed to recover from a bereavement which had literally destroyed him, without however imagining that the project, born under his fingers, would win first prize, with the congratulations of a hand-picked jury.

Heaped praise from a host of experts, including Tim Melville, president of the New Zealand Institute of Architects, who complimented “ the quality of his work and his deep understanding and empathy for the human condition », the new Muslim winner of the Student Design Award was greeted with particular emotion by a New Zealand which, like him and his family, is still licking its wounds.

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