This conversation with Sahel Alhiyari delves into what it means to practice architecture today amid the entanglements of discipline, market, society, politics, and ecology. It reflects on the ways architects move within these terrains, through negotiation, hesitation, compromise, or even small acts of subversion. What is it that the architect does and can do today? And where do their limits lie?
The discussion turns to the forces that shape architectural practice, both from within and beyond: questions of taste, the pressures of patronage, and the shifting ground of economic conditions. How might these be reconsidered in light of broader political, social, and ecological realities? And what, if anything, can design still perform within local and global landscapes marked by uncertainty, contention, and contradiction? Drawing from Alhiyari’s own trajectory, the conversation offers a candid reflection on the state of the discipline and the fragile, often tenuous, spaces in which architectural practice continues to persist.
The conversation is in English. To register, please fill in the form here.
Sahel Alhiyari is a Jordanian architect and the principal of the Office of Sahel Al-Hiyari for Architecture, an international award-winning practice with a diverse portfolio that spans buildings, interior, and exhibition design. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture and Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design, and a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. He pursued postgraduate studies at the University of Venice, where he also taught between 1993 and 1995. His teaching has included studios at Harvard GSD, the American University of Beirut, and design workshops with the Centre for the Study of the Built Environment (CSBE) in collaboration with the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
Al-Hiyari was the first architect selected for the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative (2002), working with Álvaro Siza. His projects and paintings have been widely exhibited in Jordan and internationally. In 2024, he was awarded the Great Arab Minds Award in Architecture and Design, recognizing his contributions to contemporary architectural practice in the region.