From The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, Lonodn
MSc in Architectural Design & Theory
From Kuwait University, Kuwait
Architect
At Studio Nama, Kuwait
Junior Architect
At Bonyan Architectural Company, Kuwait
B.Arch in Architecture
From Kuwait University, Kuwait
"To create, one must first question everything."
-Eileen Gray
Profile
My journey in architecture has been driven by a deep curiosity about design, urbanism, and the city, a curiosity that began with a quote from Eileen Gray that continues to inspire me. For me, every design begins with essential questions: What is the true aim of this project? How can I create a space that best serves its users? How can I seamlessly integrate the design with the surrounding context?
I am a skilled, passionate, and thoughtful designer, committed to learning something new every day. With over three years of experience in architectural design, I’ve been deeply involved in every stage of the process—from understanding clients’ needs and engineering requirements to developing innovative design solutions. Throughout this time, I honed my expertise in conceptual design, spatial analysis, planning, and collaboration with multidisciplinary teams. My exposure to the broader context of urban design during this period, in addition to my readings of Jane Jacobs, Kevin Lynch, and Christopher Alexanders’s work fueled my desire to transition into this field, where I can apply my design skills on a larger, more impactful scale.
My experience in the Gulf, combined with my urban design master’s degree in London, uniquely positions me to contribute to projects in the UK. Many international firms here are engaged in projects in the Middle East, and my familiarity with the region’s language, traditions, culture, urban environment, and architectural codes will be invaluable. This dual perspective allows me to bridge local insights with global design standards, making me well-equipped to navigate and contribute to these cross-cultural projects.
About this Portfolio
This portfolio showcases a curated selection of projects I completed during my bachelor’s degree in architecture, my master’s in urban design, and my professional experience as an architect in Kuwait. It highlights my design process, research depth, software proficiency, and technical skills in various aspects of architectural and urban design.
Supervised by: Dr. Claudia Pasquero & Filippo Nassetti
Water-Stressed Countries in the World
By 2040, many countries will face water stress due to population growth, urban development, and climate change. Different regions will struggle with water scarcity, affecting agriculture, industry, and basic needs. In Mexico specifically, water demand is expected to outstrip supply, exacerbating existing challenges and necessitating significant innovations in water management.
Water Shoratge in Mexico City
Mexico City faces significant water shortages due to a combination of factors including over-extraction of groundwater, population growth, aging infrastructure, and climate change. Efforts to address the water shortage include improving infrastructure, reducing water waste, promoting conservation practices, and exploring alternative sources such as rainwater harvesting and the importation of water from other regions. This project focuses on addressing flooding, water scarcity, and land subsidence resulting from the over-exploitation of groundwater. Through this deisgn intervention, we aim to restore water to some areas of Mexico City that were historically built on water by reimagining Chinampas, thereby enhancing the ecological conditions of the site.
Reviving The Chinampas System
This project seeks to revive the vernacular system implemented by the Aztec Civilization during the 14th century in Mexico City. The chinampas system consists of waterlogged artificial islands that were used for agriculture, land expansion, and as a form of transportation. The design proposal is responding to the rising issue of water scarcity in the city. By implementing a system that is native to Mexico, the project aims to improve the water condition and make it accessible to a larger population, as well as improve the quality of life and bring back the biodiversity that once inhabited the Valley of Mexico. This reinterpretation of Chinampas involves implementing various biomaterials with the use of artificial intelligence as a strategy to maximize their efficiency and facilitate their implementation in the urban context.
The Decline in Flora & Fauna in Mexico City Throughout the Years
Flooding Risks, Water
Scarci-
ty, & Land Subsidence
These maps below show how water issues, including flooding risk, water scarcity distribution, and land subsidence rate, have increased throughout the years. Flooding risks are related to the amount of rainfall. Small rain events increase the flooding risk for a larger area but with a smaller damage. Heavy rain events cause more serious damage but influences a smaller area. These mappings became the base to selecte the initial sites for the design intervention.
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By overlaying all mappings we convented from the research, we grasped three points with different terrain characters and functions.
The most important and initial one is Xochimilco, where Chinampas still exists and are working. This site also suffers both from flooding and land subsidence issue. Though there is a rich water network, water scarcity is still a problem for its neighbourhood.
The second site is the Historical Center in the urban zone which also suffers from flooding and land subsidence.
For Xochimilco, the birthplace of traditional Chinampas, this project envisions a future where tradition and new morphology coexist harmoniously. The proposed system has the potential to mitigate flooding, filter water polluted by human activities, and enhance crop fields. By integrating these innovative strategies with the rich heritage of Xochimilco, the project aims to create a sustainable and resilient model for the region’s future.
Site [2]: Historical Urban Center
For the urban zone, this project envisions a water-revived future, wherewater is collected, stored, and filtered to restore the city’s natural hydrology. In a metropolis once born on water but later drained by urbanization, this system seeks to reintroduce water as a vital element. Additionally, it has the potential to increase biodiversity in Mexico City and provide habitats for urban wildlife, creating a more balanced and sustainable urban ecosystem.
Site [1]: Xochimilco’s Design Growth
Xochimilco
Conclusion
Chinampa Revival is an innovative project aimed at revitalizing the ancient Aztec chinampa system, a sustainable agricultural practice developed in the 14th century in Mexico City. This system, characterized by waterlogged artificial islands, was historically used for agriculture, land expansion, and transportation. Our project responds to the escalating water scarcity crisis in Mexico City by reintroducing this indigenous method to enhance water management, restore biodiversity, and improve the quality of life for local communities.
We have identified two key sites for implementation: Xochimilco, where original chinampas are still functioning, and the Historic Center of Mexico City, an area facing severe water scarcity. In Xochimilco, our focus is on improving water quality within the wetland ecosystem. In the Historic Center, we aim to reintegrate water into the urban landscape, reviving the city’s pre-colonial essence.
Our reinterpretation of the chinampa system incorporates modern biomaterials—such as root systems, mycelium, moss, and clay—to create a circular system that enhances food production, water management, and environmental resilience.
We have developed a morphology catalogue with various shapes and densities to support functions like water collection, drainage, storage, transportation, and filtration. This project is designed as a prototype, with the potential to be adapted to cities facing similar environmental challenges in Mexico and globally.
A Study of AlUla Desert
Using Algorithmic Design Techniques & AI Image Generation
Bartlett’s School of Architecture Skill Course Assignments
The project aims to utilize algorithmic design techniques and AI image generation tools to capture and reimagine the natural beauty of AlUla’s iconic rock formations in northwest Saudi Arabia. Using Grasshopper’s Cellular Automata Algorithm to generate various parametric forms, in addition to Houdini software for terrain modeling, and then Stable Diffusion and PromeAI, the design process seeks to capture the region’s rich history spanning millions of years. By visually reconstructing AlUla desert city as a habitable urban environment, the project strives to blend the area’s unique topography with modern living spaces, echoing the harmonious coexistence of nature and human civilization.
Reimagine the dessert terrain green and habitable, add human settlement, and animal habitat
The Urban Scale
The project includes two scopes: an urban scale and an architectural scale. On an urban scale, the focus is primarily on generating top-view images of the urban environment, combining satellite images with terrain models and stylistic images inspired by natural roots. The aim is to integrate natural rock formations, which look like roots on top view, seamlessly into urban development, capturing the essence of AlUla’s landscape from a bird’s-eye perspective.
On the architectural scale, the focus shifts to detailed 3D and perspective views, highlighting the transformation of natural rock formations into habitable settlements for both humans and non-humans within the desert city. These architectural spaces are inspired by bio-design, organic forms, and bio-materials, reflecting a commitment to sustainable urban development and ecological balance.
Prom AI Creative Fusion Outcome Prompt: Organic structure with a sandy material, earthy colors, vegetation and plants growing all over the facade, human habitats, architectural space, high quality resolution
RESEDENTIAL PROJECTS
“The ultimate goal of the architect is to create a paradise. Every house, every product of architecture... should be a fruit of our endeavor to build an earthly paradise for people.”
-Alvar Aalto
2.
Dar Abdullah
3. Le Blanc Villa
4. The Royal Villa
5. Dar AlAli
Firm: Bonyan Architectural Company
Clients: Abdullah AlBuraih
Designed in 2022
Construction Started in February 2023
Location: Kaifan Residential Area, Kuwait City Area: 325 m2
Project Scope: Architectural Design, Landscape Design, and Construction
Role: Client Meetings, Site Analysis, Lifestyle Analysis, Conceptual Studies, Architectural Plans, Furniture Layout, 2D Drafting, 3D Modelling, and Project Coordination.
The main concept of this project was inspired by the client’s desire to have his house like a resort within mountains and natural urban settings. However, since his plot of land was located in an arid desert city like Kuwait City, I brought nature into the house instead of the opposite because of the lack of natural sceneries around.
Thus, the Embrace House was designed with a double height core extending from the first floor where an outdoor floating swimming pool is located, all the way to the open roof.
The idea was to have staggered gardens where in each floor, a designated terrace/outdoor garden was introduced. The open-to-above Basement courtyard contains a garden of medium sized trees and plants cornering its edge. The First Floor has a swimming pool area with light greenery, the Second Floor is highlighted with an interior garden that is directly accessible from the parents suite, and the Rooftop garden is the most open with outdoor seating and an accompanied glass lounge.
The form is divided horizontally into two unique parts. The lower part of the facade is treated with Smoky Black Granite Stone with a hydro-leather finish which gives the villa its earthy aesthetics. The upper part of the facade is left minimal with a light grey micro-cement textured paint that contrasts and balances the natural stone, resulting in a vibrant yet cohesive façade. The design is then brought to life with double height curtain walls and strategically located windows providing ample visual connections and embracing natural daylight. The family’s high-valued privacy is protected by introducing a focal horizontal extrusion that embraces both main façades of the villa, contrasted by vertical louvres which allows for more privacy for the floating swimming pool. A Nature-Embraced
The Design’s Balance: Contrasted Materials and Disconnected Lines
Firm: Bonyan Architectural Company
Clients: AlNisif & AlSadoun
Designed in 2021
Construction Started in March 2023
Location: AlDaiya Residential Area, Kuwait City Area: 485 m2
Project Scope: Architectural Design, Landscape Design, Interior Design, and Construction
Role: Client Meetings, Site Analysis, Lifestyle Analysis, Conceptual Studies, Architectural Plans, Façades Design, Furniture Layout, 2D Drafting, 3D Modelling, and Project Coordination.
The design of Le Blanc Villa revolves around open courts, roof gardens, and double height spaces that allow sunlight and natural ventilation to enlighten the interior spaces. With one double height located between the kids first floor and parents second floor to allow for a visual and sound connection between the two, whilst protecting the privacy of each, and the other double height between both receptions areas in the ground and basement floors. The mass, which takes an L shape, is then connected together through the cantilevered beam linking the two main façades together.
Le Blanc Villa: Design-Build Project
Connectivity of Le Blanc Villa
The Royal Villa: Design-Build Project
Firm: Bonyan Architectural Company
Clients: AlSabah & AFaris
Designed in 2021
Construction Started in January 2022
Location: Kaifan Residential Area, Kuwait City Area: 1000 m2
Project Scope: Architectural Design, Landscape Design, Interior Design, and Construction
Role: Client Meetings, Site Analysis, Lifestyle Analysis, Conceptual Studies, Architectural Plans, Façades Design, Furniture Layout, 2D Drafting, 3D Modelling, and Project Coordination.
As a family of royals, the clients asked for a luxurious, neo-classic, yet contemporary design that stands out. The biggest challenge was to maximize built-up area for all the family members: the two parents, three sons who are married with their families, and one daughter, while keeping the form unique. The ground and the basement were freed for their guests, the main Kitchens, and additional spaces like a spa, an office, and a library. On the other hand, the first and seconds floor were designated for family members, divided into four big apartments. with an area of 400 m2 for each.
A Royal Entrance
The main facade of the villa is highlighted with a pointed arch and a modern interpretation of an Islamic Mashrabiya that defines the main gate. The landscape extends for 30 meters in front of the gate, including a parking space and an outdoor seating for gathering. The Ground Reception reflects a simple yet luxurious design with minimal touches of expensive marble and nude colors.
A 1000 m2 Palace of Simple Luxury
Architectural Studio: Bonyan Architectural Company
Client: AlAli
Designed in 2022
Construction Started in January 2023
Location: Kaifan Residential Area, Kuwait City Area: 356 m2
This thesis explores Quranic Verses, specifically ones that deal with ethics, and begins to translate them spatially and introduce their meanings into Kuwait Judicial Court System through a more ethical, honest, and humble lens.
Where to Situate a New Ethical Court Complex?
Site Analysis:
The chosen site is surrounded by powerful monumental structures that are supposed to speak of justice and law such as the Kuwaiti Parliament, the place where laws are made and discussed. Even though being ethical according to the verses means that those important national buildings ought to be more transparent and engaging of society, the parliament and all its surrounding governmental buildings are hardly accessible by the public. The whole site is highly secured and filled with surveillance cameras and fences to the point where it gets uncomfortable for pedestrians to walk nearby. It became a foreign image of borrowed western symbols trying to become sacred or “Islamic” but failing to relate to the original identity of the city.
How
The verses discuss how balance can be imposed on humans or on architecture as I interpreted it; the earth as a settlement and the sky as a ceiling, no form in between can escape the two opposites. Some verses tackle the concept of honesty and exposure as the essence of justice; a crime can be hidden from man but it cannot be hidden from God. The wrongness in society should not be buried and concealed, but revealed and judged. Thus, I started experimenting with very simple forms, taking the arch as a humble honest unit, and formally exploring its potential through repetition, junction, extrusion, recession, and modulation, trying to create a more humane architectural experience that is spatially rich with more honest materiality and transparency to the public.
New Court Complex
Four important design guidelines for the site initiated the first concept:
1. Two opposite accesses for the site: One is public and open for the visitors, and the other is more private and secured for judges, lawyers, prosecutors, office clerks, and criminals.
2. Views: An uninterrupted physical connection to the sea, and another visual connection to the parliament and the main street.
3. Unfenced walkways: Along the sea shore and between the different programs of the project to ensure honest transparency and absolute accessibility.
4. Invisible security: Three levels of security for cases in family courts or other private cases that should not be accessed by media.
These guidelines define the form of the first sweep of public buildings: The Library, Law School, Mosque, and Main Lobby. Then the second sweep of semi-public office buildings, higher than the public zone but still lower than the courts which take place at the third sweep and climax of the site, emphasizing that hierarchy of programs. The courts stand opposing the parliament, higher than anything else, transparent in the public courtrooms and more secure in private courts.
A Journey of Procession
The hierarchy of the courts reflects their status. The central structure is the Supreme Court, then the Jurisdiction of Constitutionality comes lower, followed by the Appeal and First Instance Courts, and lastly the smaller Family Courts on the sides. The big vaults indicate the entrances of public zones, very welcoming and visible from faraway, while the private zones are more hidden where the visitor will have to go through a journey of ins and outs to get to his secured destination.
The
Supream
7. The Jewel Skyscraper:
Towards a Transparent City
The Jewel Skyscraper: Towards a Transparent City
Nominated for RIBA Part 2 Silver Medal - Exhibited in RIBA President’s Medals Ceremony in London, December 2019, and the International RIBA President’s Medals Exhibition http://www.presidentsmedals.com/Entry-50121
Kuwait University, 4th Year Project
Class: Architectural Design VI - Spring 2019
Location: Murgab, Kuwait City
In Collaboration With: Ali Nabeel
Role: Design, Site Analysis, 3D Modelling, Technical Plans & Sections
Supervised by: Dr. Jawad Tabtabai
What Does the Jewel Represent?
In a city where the government continues to put limitations on the flow of information, the Jewel Skyscraper aims to support the new Kuwaiti vision of 2030 by introducing a landmark that celebrates data, knowledge, and transparency. The site was chosen because it stands in an edge between the city with its governmental buildings, offices, private companies, and skyscrapers, while overlooking the residential neighbourhood of Kuwait on the other side. The Jewel then becomes a representation of a new era of transparency, connecting the public with what they need to know from the other part of the city through Data and Research Centers.
A New Hub of Information
The Jewel proposes an open-source hub of information in Kuwait, including an underground data center, six research centers facing important locations in Kuwait City, a research college, and public libraries on a continuous ground connecting the whole skyscraper. The research centers are divided into six categories positioned according to their secure sensitivity including: Art & History, Environmental, Social, Islamic, Economic, and Political.
The position of the research centers is symbolically charged. For example, the economic center is facing the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, while the political center is confronting the Ministries Complex. Each research center serves as a reminder for transparency in a city were knowledge can be considered taboo.
Data Centers are highly secured because of the sensitive information they contain about the country. Also, they are technically challenging due to the vibration problem of the heavy servers and machines used, but that can be solved by putting them underground. Those underground Data Centers are then mirrored above ground in the middle of the skyscraper as inserted transparent research centers that are public and accessible by anyone who seek knowledge.
To support that, the whole skyscraper is lifted up freeing the ground and releasing it to the public, allowing for a 14 meters high open ground which celebrate the existing garden in the site, in addition to pop up shops, and a spiral ramp that takes visitors from the ground to the commercial center in the first level and up above.
A mosque was introduced high in the skyscraper, sandwiched between offices, and re-imagined in a new inverted typology. It sits with its minaret pulled horizontally into the city rather than vertically, and the minaret now functions as an observation deck, while the dome is turned vertically to represent the Mehrab.
The Mosque - 40th Floor Plan
The Flying Mosque
The separate research centers are connected by a continuous ground with ramps and staircases marking the open library and publishing press. The inserted sphere is a conference and performance center that serve the research centers as well.
The typical offices are then connected through open atriums and shifted masses. The whole skyscraper is accessed through the core or the spiral ramp around the sunken base of the building in which the ground is freed of any mass, making it open to the public.
A Continuous Ground
8. Redefining Youm AlBahar
Cultural Village
Redefining Youm AlBahar Cultural Village
Youm AlBahar* as a Public Square
Kuwait University, 4th Year Project
Class: Architectural Design V - Fall 2018
Location: Sailor’s Day Village overlooking the Arabian Gulf
In Collaboration With: Noura Saleh, Sarah AlEnezi, & Zainab Marafie
Role: Research, Design, Visualization, 3D Modelling, Rendering, and Physical Modelling Supervised by: Dr. Shaikha AlMubariki
What Defines Architectural Heritage?
Design Brief:
As one of the few Historical Cultural Villages still standing in Kuwait, Youm AlBahar’s authenticity was questioned in this project. Starting from a warm up project of history analysis, through storytelling, we represented a hidden socio-political aspect of the site. The second step was a thorough research of the site’s architectural and cultural elements, which led to the decision not to renovate the site but to rethink it again as a public space, we found out that the original Youm AlBahar barely represents any Kuwaiti heritage as it is now.
*Youm AlBahar in Arabic translates to The Sailor’s Day
The Truth Behind Pearl-Diving Warm Up Project: A Story
Before the discovery of oil, Kuwaiti men used to go pearl diving in the Arabian Gulf water. It was a dangerous journey, but the only mean of living for many of them. However, it was not just the sea dangers that they ought to fear. The untold harsh concept of pearl diving is that the Nawkhedha* take men with him in his ship in exchange for money or their property’s ownership. If men failed to collect pearls, they’re in debt to him, having to give up their houses or find any other means to pay back the money. Because of that, many men have gone missing.
This story depicts a past where this harsh truth was hidden by the invention of a sea monster called Bu Driyah. This mythological creature was believed to cause storms and steal men. The story unfolds to the realization that Bu Driyah was in fact no other than the evil Nawkhedha.
Physical Model
*Nwakhedha in Arabic translates to the Captain of the Ship
This story was written, illustrated, and directed by the author and partner Noura Saleh
In order to evaluate Youm AlBahar’s authenticity, we analysed the site which overlooks the sea through two critical lenses. The first is a social lens including traditions and cultures that were present in the site since the 1980s but started to disappear after its rebuilt in 2005. The intangible cultural heritage consists of non-physical aspects of a particular culture, more often main-streamed by social customs during a specific period in history. The concept includes the ways and means of behaviour in a society, and the often formal rules of operating in a particular cultural climate. It was found that only 25% of these original activities of Youm AlBahar were carried on until today, in addition to a new protesting activity taking place in the public area of the site, while all the other site cultures were diminished after the rebuilt.
The Original Youm AlBahar Site
The other analytical lens is architectural where we compared between the objects and monuments representing Kuwaiti heritage in their authentic form and their form in the site. The conclusion was that the site did not represent architectural heritage in any way. The objects and monuments in the site, trying to mimic the past without any authenticity, were a cliché version of traditional Kuwaiti architecture. Therefore, we decided to wipe out those structures in our design proposal, and in order to bring back the essence of the site, we revived the most needed social activity in today’s modern Kuwait, through the introduction of a big public square dedicated for dialogue, goods exchange, and protest.
Traditional Kuwaiti Diwaniya*
AlBahar’s Diwaniya*
Traditional Kuwaiti Architecture: Now vs Then
A Platform to Speak Up
Around the City of Kuwait, there are only three main public squares, each played an important role in forming the history of public expression in the city. The most influential of them is Sahat AlErada*, the square where protests against the government or any unjust law takes place. It is located in Youm AlBahar but kept outside the fence of the site as a clear indication of the unacceptability of such spaces where freedom of speech is oppressed. As a reaction to that, a place for protest was created in this proposal, in addition to a new typology of Diwaniyas where both men and women can gather and discuss politics, economics, and social life. This platform is welcoming for people from all social groups and nationalities, encouraging all mediums of self expression.
A Space of Expression and Expansion
Design Development & Zoning
As a response to the critical location of Youm AlBahar Cultural Village by the Arabian Gulf waters, and beside the not-any-longer Sahat AlErada where people used to protest: The new image of the site became a place encouraging the freedom of speech and protest.
This project aims to redefine the meaning of a public space in Kuwait City after it had been manipulated throughout the years, creating a space of expression and expansion in a site that witnessed a lot of voice oppression throughout its history.
This is achieved through the introduction of an art gallery and a library dedicated to this purpose, a Bazaar with pop-up shops for local small businesses, and a Cross-Cultural Diwaniya for both men and women integrated with a big elevated platform for protest.
Youm AlBahar
AlSafat Square
AlErada Square
AlAlam Square
*Sahat AlErada in Arabic translates to The Square of Determination
Protests in Public Squares
Unheard: Women’s voices
Heard: Men in Diwaniyas
Gallery
Top View
Bazaar (Ground Level) + Public Square (1st Level) Library
