Personal Info
- Country of residence: Jordan
Information
Walid Ahmed Al-Sayyid is a Palestinian / Jordanian architect , born in Amman in 1966. He has lived in London since the 1990s and holds British citizenship . He studied architecture at the University of Jordan and graduated in 1989 . He completed his master's degree in 1995 , during which he practiced architectural design with architect Rasem Badran for five years, during which he worked on many important Arab and international projects and competitions.
He opened his own office in Amman for three years, during which he designed many private residences and buildings, and participated in the international competition to develop the Egyptian Book House in Cairo in 1993 . During his years of work as an architect and his enrollment in the master’s program, he became aware of the huge gap between theory and practice, along with the absence of the spirit of scientific research that is the basis of the renaissance of the West.
He left his private office in Amman, which he had with three fellow architects, and joined the doctoral program at the University of London in 1996 , where he obtained a doctorate in Philosophy of Architecture for his thesis in which he discusses the use of heritage in contemporary Arab architecture by analyzing the works of Hassan Fathi and Rasem Badran using a modern theory (Space Syntax).
Working life
During the academic years he spent at the University of London until now, and through his practice of academic research , architecture and design, many horizons opened for him in the close relationship between scientific research and application in architecture , in which the computer is used to analyze and study buildings and urban areas. He is the director of the Arab-Islamic Architecture Research Center in London. Recently, he was invited to work as an advisor to the Ministry of Housing in the Kingdom of Bahrain. In addition, he established his own office in London, Dar Memaar , a joint-stock company based in London, and its work includes sectors in the Arabian Gulf, the Middle East, Australia, and North Africa.
Stages of his intellectual life
Dr. Walid Ahmed Al-Sayed is considered one of the most prominent critics in the arena of contemporary Arab architecture . He is a researcher, critic, and writer, one of the few in the Arab world who are distinguished by their perseverance and continuous, diligent writing, in the clear absence of architectural writers and architecture critics.
He is distinguished by a clear presence in the arenas of academic research and journalistic writing. In addition to being a lecturer and visiting professor at British academic institutes and in the Arabian Gulf, he works as a consultant for many international institutions in the Netherlands and elsewhere.
He has also served as a member of international arbitration committees for conferences in the Arabian Gulf, the Arab Levant, and others. Since 2000, it has been reaching readers in the Arab world through the newspapers Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Al- Hayat of London, Al-Jazeera of Saudi Arabia, Al-Watan of Oman , Al-Arab of Qatar, Beirut Times of America , and Al-Quds Al-Arabi of London, with periodic articles on architecture and urbanism.
He writes an article weekly in which he addresses the issues of architecture, urbanism, architectural education, and the social-cultural frameworks of architecture and art in the Arab-Islamic context. By the end of 2009, he had published more than 150 newspaper articles at a rate of 1,500-2,500 words per article, combining practical experience, theoretical academic studies, and ongoing research into newly published books.
He also writes, at the invitation of the editorial board, in specialized urban magazines such as Al-Binaa magazine in Riyadh, where he regularly writes in the “Criticism and Opinion” corner, and he also writes in “Imran” magazine issued by the Architecture Department at the Islamic University of Gaza. He also writes in other specialized magazines and periodicals, such as the Journal of Urbanism and Urban Technologies , which is a peer-reviewed scientific journal issued by the Environment and Urbanism Laboratory in Algeria. He has research published in periodicals such as the Lebanese Arab Future and international conferences.
He has a book that will be published soon in early 2010, entitled “Philosophical Readings in the Architecture of Arab Societies between Heritage and Modernity - Towards a Systematic Reading of Contemporary Arab Architecture,” in which he examines pivotal points in the foundations of Arab architecture , its cultural, social and political implications, and frameworks of education and architectural criticism.
Since 2004, he has worked in Muscat, Oman, to establish his office, where he established a group of relationships with the private sector through a group of private, medium-sized and large housing projects .
In 2006, he worked as a consultant for a government agency for urban development and planning, and led a team to develop four new Jordanian cities, including the historic center of Amman . In 2007, he worked on designing the Dubai Health City for Hospitalization through a specialized British office. Through this work and at the request of the owner, who is a government entity, the design was developed to mimic the architecture of Andalusia, but in a modern style that is in line with the unprecedented urban boom witnessed by the city of Dubai.
Philosophy of architecture and the profession
He believes in the necessity of architecture always being based on a reference and origin without this being an obstacle in any way to prevent the renaissance towards modernity. He is always looking for innovation without abandoning the original template. Forms, materials, and architectural philosophy must always be renewed. If water is stagnant, it becomes stagnant.
Likewise, ideas, shapes, and designs must be developed and tend toward modernity and innovation at all times in order to remain alive. He also believes in the necessity of architectural boldness, as the world is constantly changing and developing, and there are technological inventions that require constant development in building science and theories. Planning and Architecture It is necessary to keep pace with the times in everything, including architecture . He has published many interviews about his opinion on architecture and urbanism in more than one specialized magazine.
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Achievements and Awards
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