New Nomad
I fall asleep in one town I wake up in the next I have no home to call my own My mind: it knows no rest My thoughts: now scattered, now formative I’m filled with wanderlust You hear my footfalls in the night Kicking up the dust
Category: writings
Excerpts // “A Blueprint for Re-evolution: The New Normal in Architecture”
Originally published in the November 2018 issue of Indian Architect & Builder magazine, as part of their series on “The Future of Architecture.”
Out with the Offline, In with the Online!
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results. ~Not Albert Einstein, but someone smart, probably We are stuck in a pandemic time loop, it feels like. Every year, the same events repeat, without much of a difference. Festivals, rallies, the alarming spread of COVID-19, lockdown, stranded […]
Working with Moving Parts: 2020 Vision, Resilience and Response in Architectural Practice
It was the end of the work day in late September. Our team was still remote after the lockdown reopened, but I worked in the studio from time to time. I was sitting in my chair with my feet up on my desk, enjoying the rain pouring outside my window. After a while, the sound […]
Arena of A Shared Schadenfreude
Should architects design prisons? The debate has been going on for some time. Some architects and architecture collectives have taken a stance and vowed never to design buildings that are used to cause harm and that violate human rights. The continued misuse of detention centers has been denounced by the American Institute of Architects. But […]
Lakdikapul: A Wooden Bridge to Nowhere
Earlier this year, a new traffic island was created at Lakdikapul, which became a great solution to streamline traffic at what used to be very haphazard and confusing turning. However, what came on top of the island– in dissonance to the alleviation of traffic logjam– is nightmare-inducing to say the least. Not just for an […]
The Mosque as Magnet: Situating the Mosque in the Urban Morphology of Contemporary Cities in the Islamic World as an Integral Part of the Process of Rebuilding
It is a time for re-evaluation and re-evolution. Growing up Muslim in Saudi Arabia, I have had plenty of opportunities to pray at various mosques in the Kingdom, and sometimes even on beaches and in the desert. I have seen how the place one stands to pray transforms into a magnet with an organic congregation […]
The Auto-Gentrification of City Centers in the Gulf: Heritage Beyond the Built Environment
In order to direct attention toward the fast-aging social housing, public buildings and entire urban sectors that have dated rapidly and been unable to keep up with the developmental impulses of cities in the GCC, a movement toward adopting buildings and adaptive reuse is underway to breathe new life into old shells across the region. […]
A Blueprint for Re-evolution: The New Normal in Architecture
Work expands to fill the time it is given. It was a common assumption and goal during the Industrial Revolution that once we mechanized our mundane everyday tasks, we would have an abundance of free time for leisure in which to pursue enjoyable activities. Centuries on, it turns out that it’s actually work that is […]
God is in the Details, Especially in Microarchitecture
What is a mosque? A question can serve as the starting point of a serendipitous and rewarding journey. The sacred month of Ramadan was just a few weeks away, and Hyderabad was preparing for the time when it really comes into its own. We were asked to design a small prayer space for elderly residents […]
Takbir Fatima II 