Wael Samhouri

His research and writing interest is currently in sacred architecture and its representation in the modern world and the philosophy of post-war reconstruction architecture.

• Name — Wael Samhouri • Practice — Wael Samhouri Architecture & Urban Design • Born — 1958 • Education — Royal College of Arts - London • Birthplace — Damascus

Wael Samhouri comes from a family of academics, both his mother (Quamar Al-Duaji) and his father were university professors. His father (M. Zouhair Samhouri) is an eminent linguist and translator who worked at the United Nations in Geneva. Wael travelled extensively with his family between Europe and the Gulf, and lived for years in England and Kuwait before settling in Syria.

Samhouri graduated from Damascus University with a Bachelor of Architecture in 1983, then continued pursuing his post graduate studies in Architecture and Urban design between New York and London. In 1987 he held an MSc in Urban Design from Pratt Institute, New York and later in 1990, a Ph. D. in Architecture & Urban Design from the Royal College of Art in London. Later in 1992, he founded his own practice Wael Samhouri Architecture & Urban Design in Damascus, Syria. He has been a member of several committees and NGOs. From 2007 to 2010, he was a member of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture Technical Review team. He was a technical reviewer at Al-Fozan Award for modern mosque architecture. In 2008, he joined the board of trustees of the Aga Khan Development Network in Syria. Alongside practicing Architecture, Samhouri has been a professor and chairman of the Department of Theory & History of Architecture in Damascus University since 2004. He was also the founding Chairman of the Department of Architecture in the University of Kalamoon, Syria (2004–2006), and in the International University for Science and Technology IUST, Syria (2006–2010). Samhouri is active in the academic discourse in the region. He founded the Apollodorus of Damascus, A platform for architectural discourse, globally connecting architects, artists, musicians and intellectuals. The platform promotes intellectual discourse in Architecture, Art, Music and History in the region.

Samhouri’s work could be considered to belong to a Regionalist (or rather Critical Regionalist) architecture - although he has now evolved to embrace a different approach. Designing the Hasani Religious Center in Damascus, he incorporates both traditional religious and modern office and educational space. By treating tradition as more than just an old pattern book, Samhouri’s building shows that cultural awareness in architecture can mean something deeper than decorated monoliths. His work has been exhibited in the La Biennale di Venezia 2014, and included in the accompanying book: Architecture from the Arab World: 1914-2014 (a selection) List of works: • Al-Shaykh Badr Al-Din Al –Hassani Islamic Center & Mosque (Completed in 1998). • Syrian Computer & Informatics Society Head Quarters (completed). • Faculty of Medicine Library. (completed in 2000). • New complex of the faculty of letters & humanities, University of Damascus. • The Al-Seera And Al-Hadeeth Al-Shareef Centre, Kuwait, With GC Gulf Consult.