The architectural competition for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the Al Nouri Complex in Mosul

Professor of Architecture and Director of the School of Design at the American University of Beirut

Professor Al-Harithy holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the Oregon School of Design, a Master of Science in Architecture from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and a PhD in History of Art and Architecture from Harvard University. She is also a research director at the Beirut Urban Lab. Her research focuses on urban heritage with emphasis on the theoretical debate on heritage construction and consumption related to identity building and post-war reconstruction in the Arab world. Her current work conceptualizes urban recovery in relation to processes of historical editing, urban trauma, and protracted displacement.

She is widely published with over 50 articles, book chapters, and reports in leading journals and refereed books. She is the editor of and contributor to Lessons in Post-War Reconstruction: Case Studies from Lebanon in the Aftermath of the 2006 War (Routledge, 2010) and a forthcoming book entitled Urban Recovery: Intersecting Displacement with Reconstruction (Routledge 2021)

Head of the Department of Architectural Engineering at the University of Mosul

Dr. Ahmed Yousif Alomary was born in 1964 in Mosul, Iraq. He received his Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering in 1987 from the University of Mosul. He also holds a master's degree in Architectural Engineering (1992), and a PhD from the Department of Architectural Engineering of the University of Technology of Baghdad (2008). He is a lecturer at the Department of Architectural Engineering at the University of Mosul since 1992, an assistant professor since 2014 and a consultant architect since 2010. Dr. Alomary  is an advisory member, formed by Executive Order, at the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers to Rebuild the old city of Mosul. He has worked in the design of several cultural, religious and residential projects in Mosul, and he is the author of more than 15 papers.

FAIA, LEED AP, Founder and Design Director at RAW-NYC Architects

Raya Ani is an award-winning multidisciplinary architect and urban designer with international experience having worked in Baghdad, Boston, Dubai, Germany, and New York City. Named as one of the topmost influential architects in the Middle East since 2015, she received her bachelor’s degree in Architectural Engineering from Baghdad University with distinction, and her master’s degree in Architecture from MIT, where she was awarded the Harvard/MIT Aga Khan Scholarship. As the 2017 President of the American Institute of Architects-Middle East Chapter, Raya focused on empowering architects by furthering and supporting multiple goals for a stronger profession. Her interests in melding innovation, sustainability, and technology, and her drive to empower and lead by example has resulted in her being the founder and design director of RAW-NYC Architects, an award-winning interdisciplinary studio based in New York City and Dubai.

Expert in urban regeneration and sustainable rehabilitation and Professor at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia

Xavier Casanovas is a consultant expert in restoration, urban regeneration and sustainable rehabilitation. He is President of the RehabiMed Association and member of the board of ICOMOS (The International Council on Monuments and Sites) Spanish Committee.

Xavier has served as director of many international projects on restoration, sustainable rehabilitation, and social and economic revitalization of historic centres for UNESCO, the European Union, UNDP (the United Nations Development Programme), and the European Council, working in collaboration with cooperation agencies from different countries for more than 30 years.

A teacher at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, he has been very active on the organization of capacity building activities, courses and workshops on cultural heritage development and given lectures on universities all over the world.

Head of the Conservation Section at the Department of Culture & Tourism for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi

Amel Chabbi heads the Conservation Section at the Department of Culture & Tourism (DCT) for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi where she is responsible for planning conservation and management measures, policies and guidelines for built heritage.

Prior to joining DCT, Amel was based in the United States where she was a Research Associate at the Getty Conservation Institute. She received a fellowship from the Kress Foundation to carry out the pilot conservation project of the Texaco Road Map of Philip Johnson’s New York State Pavilion. She also worked as a Building Conservator in New York City.  Amel holds a bachelor's degree in Archaeology and Chemistry from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania. She served on the Board of ICOMOS International (2012-2017), has participated in the ICOMOS World Heritage Panel, and is a member of ICOMOS-UAE and of the International Scientific Committee on 20th century heritage.

Architect, urbanist and creative researcher and founder of Shahira Fahmi Architects

Sharia Fahmy is the founder/principal of Shahira Fahmi Architects (SFA) in Cairo since 2005. She is a three-time recipient of Harvard’s post-doctoral fellowships for her ground-breaking architectural work: a LOEB fellow at the Graduate School of Design, Bois Fellow at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences FAS, 2016; and a Berkman Klein fellow at Harvard's Law School, 2016. She has taught at Columbia University. Fahmy has built projects in the Middle East, London and Europe, and has been hailed by Phaidon as one of the "Architects building the Arab Future".

Her projects include the Delfina Foundation, London, 2014; the winner of Andermatt Swiss Alps Master Planning competition of phase II & III, 2012; the "Face Mask Architects Project" for the UNEP, and the COP22, 2016. Currently, Fahmy is designing an eco-community retreat in Cornwall, as part of a Garden Village Development, UK, 2022. Born and raised in Cairo, Fahmy is a recipient of “Tamayouz Excellence Award” 2019, for the Near East and North Africa and is included on the 50th list of AD for the MENA region 2019. Fahmy splits her time between London and Cairo.

Architect, founder of Dominique Perrault Architecture (DPA)

Founded in 1981, Dominique Perrault Architecture is an international architecture, urban planning and design studio, based in Paris and Geneva. Praemium Imperiale award laureate, Dominique Perrault gained international recognition with the French National Library (1995). This project marked the starting point of many other commissions abroad, such as the Velodrome and Olympic swimming pool of Berlin (1999), the extensions of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg (2008 and 2019), the campus of Ewha’s University in Seoul (2008) and others. The studio also carried out various heritage conversion projects, such as the redevelopment of the Versailles Palace - Pavillon Dufour (2016), the transformation of the Paris Longchamp racecourse (2018) and the Poste du Louvre (2020).

His work received prestigious distinctions such as the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion Award (1997), the World Architecture Award (2002), the “Seoul Metropolitan Award” (2008), and the Gold Medal of Architecture from the French Academy of Architecture (2010). Dominique Perrault is also honorary professor at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland. Current studies and projects include the DC Tower II in Vienna, the Olympic and Paralympic Athletes Village – Paris 2024, the Gangnam International Transit Center in Seoul, Korea, the new Villejuif-IGR station, and the new retractable roof on the Suzanne Lenglen Tennis Court. In November 2019 he was appointed General Director of the Seoul 2021 Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism.

Architect and co-founder of Amateur Architecture Studio

Wang Shu is a practicing architect and educator. Together with Lu Wenyu, he co-founded Amateur Architecture Studio in 1997 and in 2003the architecture department at China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, where Wang was the department chair. His academic interests and research are focused on the re-establishment of a contemporary language for Chinese architecture, which is reflected in his built works such as the Ningbo Historic Museum, Xiangshan Campus of China Academy of Art, Renovation of Wencun Village, and Fuyang Cultural Complex.

Wang was the Kenzo Tange Visiting Professor at Harvard GSD in 2011, and is the visiting Professor in MIT, and Tongji University. He received an Honorary Professorship from Southeast University, an Honorary Fellowship from RIBA, an Honorary Doctoral Degree from RISD, and an Honorary Doctoral Degree in Sociology from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has been awarded the French Gold Medal of the Academy of Architecture in 2011 and the Pritzker Architecture Prize 2012. He was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time in 2013. He was the recipient 2019 Gold Medal of Tau Sigma Delta.He is now a juror of the Pritzker Architecture Prize 2019.

Architect, principal of Marina Tabassum Architects

Marina Tabassum is the principal of Marina Tabassum Architects, established in 2005 in Dhaka. Tabassum graduated from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 1995 and founded URBANA, notable projects being the Independence Monument of Bangladesh and the Museum of Independence (1997 – 2013).

She is the Academic Director of the Bengal Institute for Architecture, Landscapes and Settlements. She has taught at TU Delft, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, University of Texas and in BRAC University. Marina Tabassum served as a member of the Steering Committee of Aga Khan Awards for Architecture. andis also a member of the Board of Directors of Prokritee.

Marina Tabassum won the Jameel Prize 5 in 2018. She is also a recipient of the 2016 Aga Khan Award for Architecture for the Bait ur Rouf Mosque in Dhaka. Her project for the Pavilion Apartment was shortlisted for the Aga Khan Award in 2004. Tabassum received an AYA Award from India in 2004 for the project NEK10 located in Dhaka. She is a recipient of the 2005 Ananya Award, which recognizes women of Bangladesh with exceptional achievements.

Director of Brauen Wälchi Achitects

After graduating from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Doris Wälchli started her architectural career with a residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris and subsequently worked for practices in Barcelona and Lucerne, before founding Brauen Wälchli Architectes in partnership with Ueli Brauen. She has taught at various architecture schools in Switzerland and internationally. She is currently chair of CUB, the Fondation Culture du Bâti (foundation for the culture of the built environment), and was previously chair of the Geisendorf Foundation for Architecture. She was previously a member of Lucerne’s urban planning committee and also chair of the Bern urban planning committee.

Professor of Architecture and Head of the Division of Architecture of Local Cultures in the Faculty of Architecture of the Białystok University of Technology

Jerzy Uścinowicz lives and works in Białystok, Poland. He is a professor of architecture and the head of Division of Architecture of Local Cultures in the Faculty of Architecture of the Białystok University of Technology. He has been a director of the Work Program “Spiritual Places” of the International Union of Architects.

He is a member of the Committee of Architecture and Urban Planning of the Polish Academy of Sciences, a member of the Honorary Academician of the Russian Academy of Fine Arts, a member of the Polish Accreditation Committee, a chairman of the Regional Council of the Conservation, and a member of the Polish Institute of World Art Studies. He is also an honorable professor of the International Academy of Architecture. Uścinowicz is an author of over 110 major architecture designs. He designed over 30 sacred buildings. He has participated in over 30 architectural international competitions and was awarded 12 prizes and distinctions. He is an author of 47 individual exhibitions of sacral architecture. He is an author of over 180 scientific publications.