PhD Candidate in Architecture from UC Berkeley since 2010, with designated emphasis in Global Metropolitan Studies and Anthropology. My research is about the dialectical relationship between politics and the production of enclaves, with the attempt of historicizing the immediate present of “gated communities” in metropolitan Cairo from 1952 to the present. The rise of the military caste together with the housing question had led to what I theorize as “security capitalism” as a framework to understand the growth of the city. Graduated from Cairo University in 2003 with MSc in Architectural Theory and Criticism and BSc in Architecture. Worked as a GSI in classes of architectural history, theory, design, and urbanization in developing countries at UC Berkeley, Cairo University, and the American University in Cairo. Invited as a guest speaker at UC Berkeley & Stanford University. Worked in the design of several architectural projects across the Middle East and Paris; designed the Performance & Visual Arts Building at the American University in Cairo (AUC) –new campus, designed schools in Cairo, Egyptian embassy in Tashkent, Housing projects, Mother and Child Hospital in Fort de France - Le Martinique, and other international competition entries. Volunteered in a set of non-governmental organizations in community development projects for housing and enhancing public spaces in the informal quarters. Published work at several conferences & journals like the Journal of Architectural Education, IASTE, AAG, and Jadaliyya.

Architecture & Urban Planning

Urban Studies

Development

Globalization

History Of Architecture

Identity/Representation

Middle East/Near East Studies

Modernization

Egypt

Politics Of Space, Modernity, Splintering Urbanism, Gated Communities, New Cities

Arabic (native)

English (fluent)

French (elementary)