Judges
Alla Hassan
Alla Hassan studied Architectural Design at the University of Edinburgh before completing her Master's in City Planning and Real Estate Development at the University of Glasgow. She worked as a planner in the private sector and submitted and negotiated applications on behalf of developers. She then worked as a planning officer for the local government. Alla's current role is to assess the suitability of planning applications against local planning policies and determine them accordingly. The planning applications vary from householder to residential schemes to heritage projects. She sees it as a balancing act of getting the most appropriate development in the right place. Alla is passionate about good design at both the micro and macro levels and explores this through planning.
Amina Kaskar
Amina Kaskar is a South African architect, having obtained a Masters in Architecture from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and completed a Masters in Human Settlements from KU Leuven, Belgium. Her work is predominantly formed with ideas towards soft architectures, textile, gender, and migration, exploring new categories in which to investigate the city. She was awarded the Global Minds scholarship to complete a PhD at KU Leuven. She also co-founded, Counterspace (2014-2020), a collaborative architectural studio dedicated to architectural projects, exhibition design, art installations, public events curation, and urban design. Counterspace was commissioned to design the Serpentine Pavilion 2020. She taught as an associate lecturer in the post-graduate design research studios at the Wits School of Architecture
Hanaa Ali
Hanaa Ali is an urbanist, architect, assistant professor, and researcher. She earned her PhD in Architecture & Urbanism from KULeuven University, Belgium. She taught Architecture and Urban Design for many years and chaired the Architecture Department, at Dar Al-Hekma University, Jeddah (2018-19) launching the M.Arch Program and leading the department’s accreditation process. Hanaa is an advocate for equity and social justice and has published a number of articles and reports that focus on equitable urban planning, sustainable urbanism, and urban displacement. Hanaa served as the Executive Director of BAIDA (Black Architects Interior Design Association), and as Vice Chair of IDEA Committee (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Allyship) at Toronto Commercial Real Estate for Women.
Katrina Johnston-Zimmerman
Katrina is a researcher, educator, and recognized leader in applied anthropology from Philadelphia. Her deep understanding of how people experience and engage with each other in public space offers insight for designers to create more liveable cities through her consultancy THINK.urban. Globally recognized as one of BBC’s 100 Women of 2019, Katrina is an advocate for a heart-centered approach to co-create the equitable city of the future and currently works as the SmartCityPHL Data Fellow for the City of Philadelphia.
www.thinkurban.org
M.A. Assemblage
(Sadaf Tabatabaei and Vafa Dianati)
M.A. Assemblage is a collective platform bringing together architectural practice, urban research, and spatial experiments. The collective believes in the plurality of knowledge relations and knowledge creation, values the power of diverse perspectives, and acknowledge the multidisciplinary essence of spatial research and practice. Sadaf is an architect and architectural historian. She is currently working on her PhD research investigating women's experiences of modernisation within the marginal spaces in Tehran. Her research revolves around subaltern modernity, space-gender relations, marginality and spatial exclusion. Vafa is an architect by training, with a doctorate in urban studies from Bartlett School of Planning, UCL. Currently, Vafa works as a teaching assistant at the Development Planning Unit (DPU) and a research associate at BSEER, UCL.
Matthew Ashton
Matthew Ashton (1985, Sydney) is an architect and writer based in Stockholm, and PhD candidate at RMIT University, Melbourne. His research is interested in exploring landscapes of extraction associated with the cheap and abundant materials commonly used by the construction industry, such as sand, gravel and limestone. Matthew has written articles for several publications, including Arkitekten, PLAN, Low Res Journal and SITE, and his work has been exhibited in Sweden and abroad. Matthew is currently teaching at KTH School of Architecture in Stockholm, and is co-founder of the architectural practice SP-ARC.
www.sp-arc.se
Ola Elhassan
Ola Elhassan is a Sudanese poet and electrical engineer in London. She is a resident poet and host of the Common Sound collective’s improvised live music jams - often using mathematics, dancing, and physics, in her lyrics.Combining poetry with her role as a built environment designer, Ola started the Artists as Designers research project. With an aim to draft a consultation framework centring the concept “designed by us, for us” she is exploring colonial legacies on spatial justice. Ola is currently editing a collection of essays from members of Arup and UCL, with interviews from artists and poets, highlighting public space’s importance in creating cities where everyone has agency.
Rafael Portillo
Rafael is the founder and director of Artificial Kreativity, a design-led architecture studio merging technology, art, and architecture to create unique designs that aim to advance society. Prior to launching his London studio, he worked with Zaha Hadid Architects. His career spans over 18 years designing iconic buildings at multiple scales ranging from cultural buildings, FIFA stadiums, masterplans, commercial retail, and private residential designs. Key projects comprise Pierres Vives, Chartres Parc des Expo, Symbiotic Villa, and Diyar Town Center Masterplan. His approach to architecture is an art form where he specializes in digital design processes to create sculptural buildings that push the boundaries of architecture and design.
www.artificialkreativity.com
Raluca Dascalita
Raluca Dascalita is a Senior Lighting Designer based in London, working alongside Delta Lighting Design on large scale masterplans, public realm, and hospitality projects worldwide. Originally trained as an architect and with more than 10 years’ experience in the field, Raluca steered towards lighting design in 2016, following her increasing interest in the nocturnal aspect of the built environment. Her approach to lighting design comes from a humanistic perspective, where light is seen as a catalyst for social interaction, individual wellbeing, and a consistent feeling of safety within public spaces. Her designs explore ways of integrating lighting within the greater concept of a ‘smart city’ that responds to human needs, all while minimising its harmful side effects, like light pollution.
Ricardo Camacho
Ricardo Camacho diploma University of Lisbon (FAUL) completed the MArchII from Harvard Graduate School of Design and presently concluding PhD at Coimbra University. Currently, professor at ISCTE School of Architecture in Lisbon, until 2018 taught at Northeastern University in Boston where he was research principal at EU grant project “Resilient Coastal Environments”. In Kuwait he was research associate at Dar Al Athar Al Islamiyya, taught until 2016 at Kuwait University and was the national deputy curator at Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2012. Since 2021 he is the Commission for Building Sustainability coordinator at the Portugal’s Chamber of Architects and executive board member in three distinct NGO’s, the Grémio dos Arquitectos, Irís, and UMAR.
Sarah Alrukhayyes
Sarah Al Rukhayyes is an architect, designer, maker, and explorer of all things creative. She works in Kuwait, at an international architecture practice (with headquarters in both Kuwait & Spain). Sarah graduated from Auburn University in Alabama, where she also attended the Rural Studio. A hands-on design build program that allowed her to get their hands dirty and delve into the art of craft & construction. Learning & understanding from the people in the society & then applying this knowledge, using the expressions of design and art has the transformative power to nudge and cajole people into being better versions of themselves. Sarah’s work has been published in Architectural Record, Arch Daily, Boundaries, Khaleejesque and Thrillist.
Sara Saad Alajmi
Sara Saad Alajmi is an architect and currently a PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research examines the interrelationship between architecture and the environment in the Arabian Peninsula in the late 19th and 20th centuries, where she focuses on housing and modern settlements in the Arabian desert. Sara obtained her professional Bachelor of Architecture from Kuwait University in 2017, and she holds a post-professional Master of Architecture II from Yale University. She practiced as a junior architect in Kuwait and has taught at Kuwait University, Yale University, and the University of Pennsylvania. Sara is the recipient of the Kuwait University Master’s and PhD scholarship. Her work focuses on domesticity, informality, and poetry in the desert environment.