About Us
Who we are
Within the framework of the DAAD Ta’ziz Partnership – Scientific Cooperations, the Department of Urban Renewal and Planning Theory – University of Kassel – Germany in cooperation with the Department of Fine Arts – Department of Architecture – Egypt, Department of Architecture – Babylon University – Iraq and Faculty of Architecture - Design and Built Environment – Beirut Arab University – Lebanon have initiated the project “UA – Urban Acupuncture: A Strategy of Catalytic Interventions”. The project runs from March 2023 till the end of 2025 and is concerned with deepening cooperation with partner universities through the organization and implementation of various forms of academic and student exchanges.
Our Mission
The expected outputs of this project revolve around implementing Urban Acupuncture (UA) as a strategy of selected catalytic interventions in Lebanon, Iraq, Germany, and Egypt. This includes suggesting a comprehensive proposal for a strategic framework for various UA approaches in the partner countries, as well as establishing an online platform to set up Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in the UA field. These efforts will in return strengthen the interconnectedness between the three fields of action: teaching, research, and practice, leading to consolidate and complement each other towards progressive development. Ultimately, the physical implementation of these outputs will evaluate the challenges, efficiency, and opportunities of the Urban Acupuncture theory in each partner country as a claimed quick and effective tool for renewing and recovering the partner cities, aiming to achieve significant results with minimal effort, particularly in critical locations.
Our Team
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Uwe Altrock
Kassel University
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Uwe Altrock
Kassel University
Professor for Urban Regeneration and Planning Theory at the University of Kassel, Germany. He is co-editor of the German Yearbook of Urban Regeneration, of Spatial Planning and Urban Development in the new EU Member States (Ashgate 2006), Maturing Megacities: The Pearl River Delta in Progressive Transformation (Springer 2014) and of Windows Upon Planning History (Routledge 2018). His fields of interest and research are: urban governance, megacities, urban regeneration and planning, planning theory, planning history.
M.Sc. Mohammed Alfiky
Kassel University
Urban Planner and GIS Specialist, is a scientific researcher at the department of Urban Regeneration and Planning Theory - Kassel University. He is a coordinator for a number of DAAD and DFG projects. Since 2018, he is a doctoral candidate at the Institute of Urban Planning and Design - Chair International Urbanism - Stuttgart University. His main fields of research are informal development, urban planning and design, city development, informal economy, and geodesign.
Dr. Ula Merie
Babylon University
Ph.D. in post-colonial architecture and practically the architecture of the post-war and utopianism from Sheffield School of Architecture. She is a researcher at Heritage Borders of Engagement Network/ NTU, A representative for Iraq in the Epidemic Urbanism Initiative, Research Fellow of The Academic Research Institute in Iraq (TARII), Associate at the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies, and visiting lecturer and external examiner at the University of Baghdad. Her research focuses on architectural humanities (history and theory), the architecture of home and heritage, exploring history and theory of architecture in post-war cities, spatial justice, conflicted identity(s), politics, ethics and gender equality, and urban environments contestation - between public and private, under the umbrella of design and power.
Sarah Jameel
Babylon University
Sarah holds a Bachelor's and MS.C degree from Al-Nahrain University College of Engineering in architecture. She was also part of the Cultural Cooperation Group and studio between Al-Nahrain University and the University of Maryland “Bridging the Gap" Iraqi and American Design Exchange prize (2016-2022),
she is an Assistant Lecturer at the University of Babylon, Department of Architecture. Her most prominent interests fall within the field of Urban Design and Landscape Architecture, her field of study was Public Spaces and Urban Parks as urban catalysts for changing and renovating cities and making their Urban Branding.
She has published much research and participated in academic research groups within the Urban Design intervention framework. Her prominent topics: are sustainability and Adaptive Reuse, in addition to studying the role of academic Architects in the preservation and rehabilitation of the “Modern Heritage” by taking advantage of her experience within a government engineering working group specialized in documenting the buildings of pioneering Iraqi architects, including the "Mustansiriya University" complex in Baghdad as part of the efforts of documentation, preservation and urban renewal.
Prof. Dr. Hassan M. K. ABDEL-SALAM
Beirut Arab University
Professor Hassan M. K. ABDEL-SALAM is currently Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Design & Built Environment, BAU. He previously held the position of Professor of Architecture and Environmental Design and served as the Head of the Department of Architectural Engineering at Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. He also served the role of Dean of the Faculty of Architectural Engineering at BAU from 2007 till 2011. Prof. Hassan is a graduate of Alexandria University and holds a doctoral degree from Oxford Brookes University in the UK. He teaches several courses of Architectural Design, Theory of Architecture, Criticism, Urban Planning, Housing, Design Economics and Sustainability, and participates in several Academic Development and Quality Assurance programs. He also holds positions as academic consultant, advisor, and external-examiner at other universities / institutions in Egypt and Lebanon, developing a broad experience in the field of education of Architecture, Urbanism, and Environmental Sustainability. Recently, he has been involved in the review of academic curricula and standards of educational programs, in several departments of Architecture locally and regionally, and has taken part in Report Group Visits for International Validation by UNESCO-UIA. He is engaged in focused research with particular interest in Contemporary Architectural and Planning Trends, Environmentalism and Contextualism. In addition, he is actively involved in scientific publishing, including editing and reviewing of research articles, through his role as Member of the Editorial Board of Urban Design International (Palgrave MacMillan, UK), Architecture and Planning Journal (Beirut Arab University, Leb.), Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development Journal (Arab Academy for Science and Technology), and Alexandria Engineering Journal (Alexandria University), and as Reviewer / Referee for several boards, scientific journals and conferences, namely: the Supreme Council of Universities (Egy.), Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences, and Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences (Cairo University).
Dr. Hiba Mohsen
Beirut Arab University
Assistant professor at Beirut Arab University, Faculty of Architecture—Design and Built Environment. Her research and teaching interests involve environmental design, sustainable urban design and planning, urban modelling, and simulation. Hiba holds a PhD in urban design and planning with a dissertation titled ‘Optimising Beirut Neighbourhood Microclimate Through Green Infrastructure: A 3D Urban Modelling Approach'. Beyond her academic background, Hiba has over 15 years of practical experience in architecture, contributing to various local and regional design projects.
Prof. Dr. Nevin Gharib
Alexandria University
Prof. of Architecture & Heritage conservation and Vice Dean for Education and Students Affairs at Alex Uni. She is a reviewer in several national and international scientific journals. Since 2017 she is the founder of the “GIS Lab'' Dep. of Architecture, at Alexandria Uni. She participated as PI& Co-PI in many international cooperation projects, from 2017 to 2021 Erasmus+KA2 IMPAQT, a 3-year project, 2021:2022 KassAlex CCH - City, Community, and Heritage with Kassel University, Germany, and middle eastern heritage collaborative research HUB with Portsmouth University, UK. She is also a member of the Scientific Committee for Examination of Scientific Production for the Positions of Professors and Assistant Professors - Ministry of Higher Education, Egypt. Prof. Nevin is a member of the Experts’ Committee of Fine Arts - Architecture - Ministry of Higher Education, Egypt. from 2013-2022, She participated in organizing several national and international workshops in Alexandria, Port Said, Rome, Kassel, and Berlin. From 2013 to 2023, She participated as a part-time staff member at the Arab Academy for Science and Technology and at the Nile University. Her main fields of research are heritage conservation, revitalization of historic city centers and architectural conservation.
Prof. Dr. Hebatalla Abouelfadl
Alexandria University
Hebatalla Abouelfadl, a graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts in 1992, obtained her MSc in Architecture from Alexandria University in 1998. Later, in 2002, she achieved her Ph.D. through a channel system scholarship, a collaborative effort between Alexandria University and Howard University, USA. Presently, she holds the position of Professor in the Department of Architecture.
As a Heritage and Housing expert, Hebatalla actively contributed to the implementation and adaptation of the Regional Urban Sector Profile Study in Egypt, a collaborative initiative by UN-Habitat & UTI partnership. She also played a crucial role in formulating Strategic Plans for four small cities as part of the Small Cities’ Strategic Planning project in Egypt. In 2011, she served as the project director at the General Organization of Physical Planning, Ministry of Housing for a one-year term.
Currently, Hebatalla Abouelfadl serves as the Academic Coordinator for the Double Master Program, "Urban Design Revitalization of Historic City Districts," a collaborative initiative among Alexandria University, Cairo University, and BTU Cottbus. Additionally, she holds the position of Head of the Architecture Department at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Alexandria University.
M.Sc. Sara Enany
Alexandria University
A passionate professional in the field of cultural landscape and architecture. She holds a bachelor degree in Architecture from Faculty of Fine Arts, Alexandria University where she is currently working as a lecturer assistant. She carried out her master studies with a focus on preserving historic gardens and parks in the city of Alexandria. Sara is keen about relationships between natural environment and human behavior in digital realm with the interest in critically exploring global movements on safeguarding the natural heritage and cultural memory .Thus, she is pursuing her PhD research on investigating the ability of digital heritage to reconcile the relationship between landscape planning, collective memory and change, and to transformation and destruction within the field of cultural landscape studies.
Donia Y. Tayel
Alexandria University
Teaching assistant in the Architecture department at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Alexandria University. With a strong passion for urban planning and design, her research focus centers around the concept of Urban Acupuncture and its role as a tool in the placemaking process. Currently pursuing her Master of Science degree, Donia is engaged in a registered thesis topic that delves deep into the transformative potential of Urban Acupuncture in shaping vibrant and inclusive urban environments. Also, Donia has actively participated in numerous international workshops, immersing herself in diverse experiences across various disciplines of urban regeneration.
Dr. Layla M. Raswol
Duhok University
Dr. Layla M. Raswol current position is the Dean of City and Regional Planning at the University of Duhok, Kurdistan Region/Iraq. She holds a PhD in Architecture and Urban Planning from the Faculty VII Architecture Environment Society, TU Berlin/Germany in 2010 on the topic: Informal Settlements in Erbil-Iraq: Formation, structures and potential. From 2010 to 2015, she was involved in the program of planning education in Iraq as the coordinator of the University of Duhok and a member of the Steering board for establishing the joint BSc Program in Spatial Planning at University of Duhok jointly with the Technical University of Dortmund/Germany. At the same time, she was the head of the Architecture Engineering Department until 2015. From 2016 to 2020 she was appointed as the dean of Engineering college at Nawroz University/Duhok. During her academic journey, she was teaching the Architectural Design Studio, Urban Planning/Design and Housing as well as supervising dozens of bachelors and master theses in the field of Architecture, Urban Planning and Design. Her Researches and publications focus on sustainable Housing development, Urban Planning and Design.
Our Previous Team
Prof. Dr. Ibtihal Y. El-Bastawissi
Alexandria university - Read more
Former dean of BAU’s Faculty of Architecture—Design and Built Environment since 2015. Before that, she served as the vice dean of graduate studies and research at the Faculty of Engineering of the Alexandria University. She received her PhD in 1989 jointly with Liverpool University. She developed strategic tourism plans in collaboration with governmental and international agencies. She is currently representing BAU as the institutional coordinator for SDG 9 of the International Association of Universities (IAU) thematic cluster on Higher Education and Research for Sustainable Development (HESD).
Omaima Kadhim Mezher Al-Taee
Babylon university - Read more
I'm an Architect, Writer and Sketcher, I graduated from the university of Babylon with bachelors degree in architecture engineering in 2016. After graduation I won in two international architectural awards: (DAF AWARD 2016, MSADA AWARD 2018) and I have been shortlisted for Tamayouz Award for women in architecture and construction in the Near East and North Africa | Category of Rising stars. I have written many architectural articles that have been published in the most important magazines & newspapers in the middle east. I'm currently working on a Master's of science in architecture engineering: Urban Catalyzation. Before studying master's I was at international UKML company working as an Architect.
Partner Universities
