Howayda Al-Harithy

Howayda Al-Harithy

Professor of Architecture and Urban Design

Howayda Al-Harithy

Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the Department of Architecture and Design (ArD) at the American University of Beirut. Her research focuses on urban heritage. Her current research theorizes socio-spatial practices and conceptualizes urban recovery in relation to processes of historical editing, urban trauma, and protracted displacement.

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Mona Fawaz

Mona Fawaz

Professor of Urban Studies and Planning

Mona Fawaz

Professor of Urban Studies and Planning at the American University of Beirut. She writes about urban history and historiography, social and spatial justice, informality and the law, property and space, as well as planning practice, theory, and pedagogy. She researches, teaches, and advocates strategies for more inclusive cities.

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Ahmad Gharbieh

Ahmad Gharbieh

Professor of Graphic Design

Ahmad Gharbieh

Associate Professor of Graphic Design at the American University of Beirut. His scholarly work explores mapping as a method of researching, representing and analyzing socio-spatial phenomena. His work in critical cartography has covered many subjects including urban security, public space and, most recently, refugee practices in the city. At the Lab, he directs the Critical Mapping team.

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Mona Harb

Mona Harb

Professor of Urban Studies and Politics

Mona Harb

Professor of Urban Studies and Politics at the American University of Beirut where she is also co-founder and research lead at the Beirut Urban Lab. Her research investigates governance and territoriality in contexts of contested sovereignty; urban activism and oppositional politics; and how people make collective life in fragmented cities. She is the author of Le Hezbollah à Beirut: de la banlieue à la ville, co-author of Leisurely Islam: Negotiating Geography and Morality in Shi’i South Beirut (with Lara Deeb), co-editor of Local Governments and Public Goods: Assessing Decentralization in the Arab World (with Sami Atallah), and co-editor of Refugees as City-Makers (with Mona Fawaz et al.). She serves on the editorial boards of MELG, IJMES, EPC, and CSSAME.

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Antonia Maria Bahna

Antonia Maria Bahna

Lab Manager

Antonia Maria Bahna
Antonia is a PhD. candidate at Université Lyon 2 Lumières in geography and urban planning. Her academic research focuses on the stabilization and reconstruction of Aleppo by analyzing the spatial imbalances and territorial fragmentation. As the Lab manager, she works closely with the researchers and directors on all the ongoing projects. 
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Karim Chaltaf

Karim Chaltaf

Graphic Designer, Communication and Social Media

Karim Chaltaf

Karim Chaltaf is an Art Director and Graphic Designer who holds a bachelor's degree in graphic design from the Lebanese American University. In his role as the Lab's Graphic Designer, he collaborates with researchers and directors to develop and visualize communication strategies for the lab's social media presence. His professional background spans independent publications, corporate marketing, UX research, event planning and on-set art direction.

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Abir Cheaitli

Abir Cheaitli

Visualizer, Researcher

Abir Cheaitli
Abir Cheaitli holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the Lebanese American University, and a master’s degree in urban design from the American University of Beirut. She also holds a Pro-Green diploma in green technologies and buildings. She is interested in socio-spatial practices, urban graphic representations, and emergent ways of visualization. Her work at the lab encompasses research on the post recovery framework for Karantina after Beirut’s Port explosion. 
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Zeina El-Hoss

Zeina El-Hoss

Translator and Communications Assistant

Zeina El-Hoss

Zeina El-Hoss is a translator, editor and copywriter who holds a bachelor’s degree in English Language from the American University of Beirut. She drafts, edits, and translates media releases, social media content, and other communication material. She also supports the Lab’s work by implementing internal and external communication strategies and projects. 

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Shareef Tarhini

Shareef Tarhini

GIS Database Guardian, Built Environment Database

Shareef Tarhini

Shareef Tarhini is a perceptive and motivated geomatics engineer adept at mapping and data management. He is passionate about showing a new perspective on reality through spatializing and visualizing data. At the Lab, he is the Built Environment Database guardian, and uses ArcGIS tools to combine information, find patterns, and make new connections.

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Nadine AlKhayat

Nadine AlKhayat

Research Fellow

Nadine AlKhayat
Nadine holds a PhD from the Department of Landscape at the University of Sheffield awarded in July 2023. Her thesis looks at mundane practices of seafront public space to understand it as a sociably equitable resource that can unite across usual divisions such as class, sect, gender, and nationality, and – conversely –  further entrench divisions across time and scale in a high-migration, high-density, and divided context of Beirut. Nadine’s research also interrogates governance of public spaces by public authorities and their contestation by urban social movements and activists. This work intersects with the Lab’s overall strategic interests in working on spatial practices, planning actors and scales and social value of land. She’s currently focused on working on publications and projects within BUL and beyond focused on migration and displacement, multiculturalism, leisure practice, physical and social integration and territoriality in public spaces.
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Hannah Sender

Hannah Sender

Post-doc Research Associate

Hannah Sender
Hannah Sender is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University College London and a Research Associate at the Beirut Urban Lab. Her research examines the rapid urbanisation of small towns affected by mass forced migration. She is interested in property, land and planning injustice, and supports the Lab with data analysis and dissemination.
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Cynthia Bou Aoun

Cynthia Bou Aoun

Research Coordinator

Cynthia Bou Aoun
Cynthia is a practicing architect and architecture design teacher. She also holds an active research portfolio focused on the legal frameworks guiding urban planning, heritage protection, and landscape design. She is also a passionate advocate for the protection of public space, including Lebanon's coastline. Cynthia is the co-author of Le Littoral and Le Patrimoine (with Sebastien Lamy, Majal, Beirut). At the Lab, Cynthia coordinates the efforts to establish a Planning Unit in Beirut, including the Green Path pilot project – Al-Masar Al-Akhdar–  designed to that end. Cynthia holds a Master's in Architecture from the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts (ALBA). 
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Hayes Buchanan

Hayes Buchanan

Research and Data Visualization Coordinator

Hayes Buchanan
Hayes is an urban planner and graphic designer. His previous research has focused on climate justice, racial equity and governance in urban planning. He supports the Lab’s research efforts by conceptualizing, designing and producing maps and other infographics across our portfolio of projects. Hayes received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Georgia and his Master’s in Urban Planning from Columbia University with an emphasis on the built environment and international development. 
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Isabela Serhan

Isabela Serhan

Research Coordinator

Isabela Serhan

Isabela is an architect and urban planner. Her work at the Lab focuses on housing justice, public policy, and producing research that supports innovative housing strategies in the city.  She is interested in urban public space and has worked on projects that contribute to reclaiming Beirut’s coast for the public. Isabela holds a bachelor's degree in Archictecture and a master's degree in Urban Planning and Policy from the American University of Beirut. 

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Batoul Yassine

Batoul Yassine

Research Coordinator

Batoul Yassine
Batoul Yassine is an urban designer and architect. She is a research coordinator at the Beirut Urban Lab, American University of Beirut. Her research focuses on forced displacement within the discourse of informality and urban recovery in post-conflict and crisis sites. She is interested in residual private/public spaces and their appropriation by different communities. She holds a Master’s in Urban Design from the American University of Beirut and a Master’s in Architecture from the Lebanese University.
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Abir Zaatari

Abir Zaatari

Research Coordinator

Abir Zaatari

Urban planning researcher and architect. Abir’s research focuses on urban housing and land policies and how they influence different modes of housing provision and acquisition. Her current research projects are focused on Beirut’s housing rental market(s) and on examining potential ways for improving land management policies in Lebanon, starting with the Betterment taxation principle. Abir received her Bachelor's in Architecture and Master's in Urban Planning and Policy from the American University of Beirut.

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Mariam Bazzi

Mariam Bazzi

Researcher

Mariam Bazzi
Mariam is a researcher trained in landscape architecture and urban design. She is involved in research projects at the Beirut Urban Lab addressing landscape heritage, integrated open space networks, and forms of archiving and unarchiving the city. Her research interests also span water management and governance, particularly riparian landscapes. She holds a Master’s degree in Urban Design (2020) and a Bachelor’s degree in Landscape Architecture (2017) from the American University of Beirut.
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Wiaam Haddad

Wiaam Haddad

Researcher

Wiaam Haddad
Wiaam is an architect and researcher. He is interested in regional architecture and built heritage and its role in activating urban space. Wiaam holds a Bachelor’s in Architecture with minors in Urban Studies and Arabic Literature from the American University of Beirut. He also holds a Baccalaureate in Piano Performance from the Lebanese National Higher Conservatory of Music and a Diploma in Byzantine Music Interpretation from the Hellenic Conservatory of Music and Arts. Wiaam is the co-founder and musical director of the AUB Classical Music Club.
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Maria Rajha

Maria Rajha

Researcher

Maria Rajha
Maria Rajha is an architect, researcher, and activist. At the Lab, Maria is working on the Fouad Boutros - Masar Al Akhdar project and supporting the establishment of a Planning Unit. Her interests also include human-centered architectural and urban design. Maria holds a Bachelor's in Architecture from Notre Dame University - Louaize.
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Dima Haidamous

Dima Haidamous

Research Assistant

Dima Haidamous
Dima Haidamous works with the Beirut Urban Lab as a research assistant on several projects, collecting data on the field through quantitative and qualitative surveys. She also plays a key role in cleaning the data, ensuring its accuracy, consistency, and reliability. Dima holds a Bachelor's degree in Interior Architecture from USEK university.
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David Wehbe

David Wehbe

Research Assistant

David Wehbe
David holds a Bachelor’s degree in Interior Architecture from Empire State College New York. He contributes to various projects at the Lab, leveraging his skills in data collection and meticulous data cleaning. Amongst his tasks are conducting field visits and household surveys. He has previously worked with several NGOs in Lebanon.
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PhD Research Affiliates and Graduate Research Assistants

Nour Zoghby Fares (PhD. candidate in Development Planning, Development Planning Unit, University College London) - 2022 

Nour’s research uses electricity provision as an entry point for understanding how cities of the South are governed. This provision happens typically by stitching hybrid, formal and informal forms of supply and distribution. By investigating the organization, control, circulation of resources, and modalities of negotiation, one can unravel the power dynamics of public and private stakeholders in a given city. Nour further seeks to expand the existing modes of cartographic investigations in ways that can allow her to visualize the informal and rely on cartography and visual investigation as a method of research.
Thesis Supervisors: Cassidy Johnson, Mona Fawaz, Camillo Boano

Reine Chedid (graduate student of Urban Planning, Master of Urban Planning and Policy, AUB) - 2024 

Reine’s thesis explores how "landlordism" plays a major role in influencing neighborhood transformation in Hamra, Lebanon. The research is part of the larger initiative of the Housing Justice team at the Beirut Urban Lab. The project intersects between three research projects: The City of Tenants, the BBED, and forced population displacement.
Research Committee: Mona Fawaz (advisor), Mona Harb and Ahmad Gharbieh (readers)

Layla Dadouch (graduate student of Urban Planning, Master of Urban Planning and Policy Program, AUB) - 2024 

Layla’s thesis explores how Syrian refugees have accessed housing in Ras Beirut's dilapidated buildings. It is part of the Precarious Homes project initiated by the Beirut Urban Lab.
Research Committee: Mona Fawaz (advisor), Howayda Al-Harithy and Elizabeth Matta Saleh (readers)

Amina Darwish (graduate student of Urban Planning, Master of Urban Planning and Policy Program, AUB) - 2024 

Amina’s thesis explores the role of faith-based organizations in providing urban goods and services in the affected spaces after the port explosion of 2020. The thesis focuses on the collective goods provided that serve the public interest in relation to the concept of "urban commons".
Research Committee: TBA

Kareim El Khansa (graduate student of Urban Planning, Master of Urban Planning and Policy Program, AUB) - 2024 

Kareim’s thesis explores how municipalities in dysfunctional settings, specifically in Lebanon, deliver public services. It focuses on the impact of international aid in enhancing decentralization as a solution, analyzing municipal activities in the context of urban commons and public goods provision amid multiple crises.
Research Committee: Mona Harb (advisor), Mona Fawaz, Rami Zurayk

Batoul Mohammad (graduate student of Urban Planning, Master of Urban Planning and Policy, AUB) - 2024 

Batoul’s thesis explores the role of non-profit organizations in providing urban goods and services in the affected areas after Beirut Port explosion of August 2020. Non-profit organizations include NGOs, INGOs and universities/initiatives. The thesis focuses on the urban goods that are of collective nature and serve the public interest in relation to the concept of "urban commons"
Research Committee: Mona Harb (advisor), Mona Fawaz and Jamil Mouawad (readers)

Former team members, fellows, and interns

Hayfaa Abou Ibrahim, Jan Altaner, Monica Basbous, Sophie Bloemeke, Mahmoud Bou Kanaan, Mohamad El Chamaa, Lea Al Chaa, Jawad Choueib, Carla Al Hage, Tala Chehayeb, Luna Dayekh, Leyla El-Sayyed Hussein, Lynn Hamdar, Ismail Hutet, Chaza Jazzar, Antoine Kallab, Ali Kassem,  Rana Khachab, Ali Khodr, Ali Ghaddar, Myriam Khoury, Zeina Maasri, Jean Makhlouta, Natalie Marj, Dana Mazraani, Soha Mneimneh, Michelle Mouawad, Nada Moumtaz, Ranime Nahle, Yara Nahle, Rania Noueihed, Dounia Salame, Majd Al-Shehabi, Najmeh Viki