ARCHITECT | URBANIST | EDUCATOR

I am an architect, urbanist, and educator currently based in the US. My research and teaching practices draw upon postcolonial and decolonial theory in revealing and resisting the insularity of architectural traditions and narratives that emanated from Europe. Citing its inherent biases, insensitivities, and incompatibilities, my interest is in not diversifying but dismantling the overtly Eurocentric architectural canon in pursuit of more pluralistic and planetary ways of thinking and making. My work also interacts with critical urban theory in examining the political-economic forces that create unequal urban environments, while advocating for more democratic and just urban futures. Here, I am particularly interested in exploring how cultural buildings can become an integral part of everyday life in cities, appearing as not detached and sterile but genuinely open and inclusive venues seamlessly woven into the fabric of physical urban space.

From 2021 to 2024, I was Visiting Assistant Professor and Visiting Faculty Fellow in Design for Spatial Justice in the School of Architecture & Environment at the University of Oregon. Although my academic career began in 2012 at the Department of Architecture and Planning, NED-UET in Karachi, my formative years were at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture where I was Assistant Professor of Architecture from 2014 to 2022 (on leave 2021-22) and where I also led the Architecture Department from 2015 to 2019. As Head of Department, I was able to build a team of early-career faculty members and together we were able to revisit a number of administrative and academic policies; restructure the curriculum keeping local, regional, and larger geographical challenges at the center; restructure the summer internship program; reorient pedagogical approaches towards creating more critical and creative learning environments; and initiate an architectural research and design lab invested in research and design projects in the city of Karachi — from designing and building low-cost, energy-efficient housing to reclaiming and reimagining urban open spaces at neighborhood scales.

I am associated with GCAS-Jehan (a decentered, collaborative node of GCAS College Dublin), Navigating Noplace (a platform for students and early-career educators interested in anti-colonial discourse and critical pedagogies within architecture and urbanism), and twentyseven70 (an evolving independent design studio).

I have represented Pakistan twice at the Venice Architecture Biennale - as curator of the Pakistan Pavilion in 2018 and co-curator of the same in 2025.

I received my architecture and design education in Stuttgart (Hochschule für Technik Stuttgart), Istanbul (İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi), and Karachi (Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture).