Biography
I am a Lecturer of Architecture and Urban Design at the German University in Cairo. My teaching and research span the fields of Architecture, City Planning History/theory, Urban Economy, Sustainable Urban Development, and Forced Migration. I am the author of the book “From Shelters to Dwellings: Zaatari Refugee Camp”, the co-editor of two books, and numerous other publications across these areas reflecting interests in the politics of urban change, urban planning and inequality, formal/informal urbanism, the impact of displacement on cities, urban economies, conflict and resilience, humanitarianism and securitization, urbanization of camps, ethnography and research methods in architecture, and the spatialities of resistance. I practiced Urban Planning in 2011 in the “Dream of Homs” revitalization project in Syria, and Architectural design in 2012 in Jordan. Supported by the DAAD doctoral award (Leadership for Syria), I undertook a PhD at the Faculty of Planning, Building, and Environment at the Technical University of Berlin between 2015 and 2020 which focused on the planning of Zaatari refugee camp and the transition from shelters to dwellings. Also supported by DAAD, I studied in double master program, Integrated Urbanism and Sustainable Design (IUSD) at Ain Shams University and Stuttgart University in 2012-14, and earned my Bachelor in Architectural Engineering from Al-Baath University in Homs in 2011. Throughout my academic career, I have been affiliated to research centres in the UK, USA, France, Jordan, Germany and Egypt, where I am currently teaching.
