Anton Yupangco is accompanying PSW5 as a Teaching Assistant. He holds a BFA in Scenic Design from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and an M.Arch from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. He has worked previously for BAM Studio Architecture in New York City, and as a Research and Teaching Assistant for Professor Gwendolyn Wright at Columbia, GSAPP.
Nora Akawi holds a BArch from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem and a MS in Critical, Curatorial and Conceptual Practices in Architecture from GSAPP, Columbia University. Her research focus is on the role of the archive in the visualization of collective spatial narratives and in imagining alternative spatial and political organization. She returned to Jerusalem in October 2011 to teach Design Studio in the Department of Architecture at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. Nora joined the Studio-X Global Network as the Curator of Studio-X Amman in September 2012.
Farah Al-Akiely holds a BA in Architecture from Jordan University, Amman (2010), and a M.Sc in Spatial Planning from The German Jordanian University in collaboration with TU Dortmund (2013). Her research and papers focus on the Regional Planning in Jordan, Spatial Expansion of Amman, Planning Practice and Participatory Approach. Joined GJU as a research and teaching Assistant in 2011, became an Urban Planning Instructor in 2013.
Heba Najada has a BA in Architecture from the University of Jordan. She pursued an MA in Urban Design from the University of Sheffield, UK. Heba’s research at Sheffield investigated the role of the spatial domination and social media in the Arab spring revolutions, and is entitled ‘Spaces of change: on the effect of revolution and hyperspace in the evolution of the Arab city’. Her work experience commenced in Mendrisio, Switzerland interning at the Università della Svizzera italiana. In 2009, she began working for Jafar Tukan architects, where she was involved in high end projects. In 2011 she returned to Amman where she worked for the Center of the Study of the Built Environment and co-founded Arini and Hers Khazeen with Mohammad and Liyan Aljabi, where they are involved in research projects that cross the boundaries of design, architecture, urbanism, politics, economics and sociology. Heba is currently an instructor at German Jordanian University.
Reem Al-Masri is the Research and Development officer of 7iber Dot Com, a hybrid media platform that works to encourage freedom of speech and responsible journalism in Jordan. Currently researching the current state of Internet Governance in Jordan, she is also working on creating awareness of Digital Rights through interactive online and offline content. Prior to joining 7iber, Reem co-produced a media monitoring radio show at a community radio station. She obtained her M.A in “Communication, Culture and Technology” from Georgetown University, and currently resides in Amman, Jordan.
Lina Ejeilat is co-founder and editor-in-chief of 7iber.com, a Jordanian web-magazine and citizen-media platform which launched in 2007. She received her Masters degree in Journalism/New Media from Columbia University in New York, and her Bachelors in Electrical Engineering from the University of Jordan. She also teaches Digital Media at the Jordan Media Institute, which offers an M.A in Journalism and New Media. She leads workshops and training programs for journalists and activists on social media and digital storytelling in Jordan and the region. She worked as a reporter with JO Magazine, and Thomson Reuters in Amman.
Myriam Ababsa is an associate research fellow in social geography at the French Institute for the Near East (Institut Français du Proche-Orient in Amman). Her work focuses on the impact of public policies on regional and urban development in Jordan and Syria. She has directed the Atlas of Jordan research program (funded by the French Embassy and the European Commission) and recently published The Atlas of Jordan (Ifpo, 2013). She has written Amman de Pierre et de Paix (Paris: Autrement, 2007), Raqqa, Territoires et Pratiques Sociales d’une Ville Syrienne (Beirut: IFPO, 2009), co-edited with Rami Daher, Cities, Urban Practices and Nation Building in Jordan (Beirut: IFPO, 2011) and co-edited with Baudouin Dupret and Eric Denis Popular Housing and Urban Land Tenure in the Middle East (University of Cairo Press, 2012). She holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Tours, France (2004). She is a former student of the Ecole Normale Supérieure Fontenay Saint-Cloud (1993).
Leen Fakhoury is an architect/conservationist, with twenty years of experience, specialized in conservation of the architectural heritage. Project manager for Taibet Zaman, awarded the 1996 Tourism for TomorrowAward, by British Airways. Currently, Industrial Professor at German Jordanian University. She participated in international researches on cultural heritage, tourism and conservation of historic fabric. She served as President of the Friends of Archaeology Society and currently is the Vice President for Cultural Technologies.
Ozan Önder Özener is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at the ITU School of Architecture. He teaches senior level design studios and classes focusing on design technology, urban transformation and innovation. Özener also collaborates with architecture firms in Istanbul for improving process performance, sustainability and design quality in complex projects. Prior to his post at ITU, he worked as a Research Scholar at Texas A&M University CRS Center and TAMU-VizLab Visualization Laboratory. He has also held Visiting Professorships at Texas A&M University and Prairie View A&M University. His particular research interests include Design Technologies, BIM, Integrated Project Delivery, Interoperability in AEC, Parametric Modeling and Digital Design. Özener holds both B.Arch and M.Arch in Design Computing degrees from Istanbul Technical University and a Ph.D. degree from Texas A&M University, College of Architecture with a concentration in BIM and Virtual Design.
Arzu Erdem PhD (ITU), MArch (ITU), BArch (ITU). Dr. Erdem’s research focuses on Contemporary Design Theories, and the effects of Information Technologies on architectural design theory and practice. She is currently coordinating/teaching graduate and undergraduate level architectural design studios in Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Architecture. Her pedagogical research explores environments that support creative design process. She has designed several architectural projects and contributed to architectural design competitions. Her professional experience includes design consultancy and project management for public and private companies.
Alper Derinboğaz [M.Arch] is an architect who incorporates new technologies and experimental approaches in design. He is graduated from Istanbul Technical University in 2005. He received a Fulbright Scholarship and UCLA Graduate Award for his master’s degree at the University of California, Los Angeles. He worked as a project architect in Los Angeles and Istanbul, and won several prizes in national and international competitions. He has realized projects that incorporate experimental approaches and new technologies. He founded Salon in 2009 as an architecture practice. The following years three of his first built works were included in the Arkiv Architecture Selection, and Derinboğaz received the Arkitera Young Architect Award in 2011. Currently he is teaching at Istanbul Bilgi University’s design studios and a masters course as well as practicing at Salon as a founding partner.