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Professor Ashraf M. Salama is an academic, scholar, and Chair in Architecture. He is Professor of Architecture and Urbanism and Head of the School of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Northumbria at Newcastle. He serves as Co-Director of the UNESCO-UIA Architectural Education Commission (EDUCOM), International Union of Architects, Paris.

Over the past 25 years, Professor Salama has led four schools of architecture in Egypt, Qatar, and the United Kingdom, two of which he founded. He has held tenured and visiting academic positions in Egypt, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, the United States, and the United Kingdom. He holds B.Sc., M.Sc., and PhD degrees in architecture, completed at Al-Azhar University in Cairo and North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.

Securing more than £2.7 million in funded research over his career, Professor Salama has published over 250 research outputs in the international refereed press, including authoring and editing 20 books and guidebooks. His recent books include: The Participatory Design Legacy of Henry Sanoff: Co-Creation and Community-Based Design Learning (Routledge, 2026); Algorithmic Colonialism in Architecture: Decolonising AI for Pedagogy, Research, and Practice (Amazon, 2026); 100+ Books That Shaped Our Understanding of People–Place Dialectics (ABC2 Publishing, 2025); The Routledge Companion to Architectural Pedagogies of the Global South (Routledge, 2023); Influence and Resistance in Post-Independence Egyptian Architecture (Routledge, 2022); Transformative Pedagogy in Architecture and Urbanism (Routledge Revivals, 2021); Architectural Excellence in Islamic Societies (Routledge, 2020); Building Migrant Cities in the Gulf (Bloomsbury, 2019); Spatial Design Education: New Directions for Pedagogy in Architecture and Beyond (Ashgate/Routledge, 2015/2016); Demystifying Doha: On Architecture and Urbanism in an Emerging City (Ashgate/Routledge, 2013/2016); Architecture Beyond Criticism: Expert Judgment and Performance Evaluation (Routledge, 2014).

He is the Chief Editor of the Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research; Co-Chief Editor of ABC2: Journal of Architecture, Building, Construction and Cities; and Honorary Editor of Open House International. Professor Salama is the UIA 2017 Recipient of Jean Tschumi Prize for Excellence in Architectural Education and Criticism. He is a licensed architect in Egypt since 1987, practiced in Egypt (1987-92). He has been a consultant to the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Tourism in Egypt (1996-2001), urban design consultant to a number of authorities and development agencies in the Middle East since 2004 and, from 2001 to 2004, the Director of Research and Consulting at Adams Group Architects, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States.

Research Expertise / Thematic Outlines

Professor Salama's research interests and experience cross the boundaries of disciplines, centred on two key areas: Design Pedagogy with a focus on social and behavioural issues, and Human–Environment Interactions at both architectural and urban scales. These have translated into expertise across the following themes: theories and methodologies of design studio teaching in architecture and urban design; evidence-based design and user-centred assessment of built environments; knowledge economies and sustainable urban qualities; lifestyle trends and housing typologies; socio-spatial practices of migrant and multi-cultural communities; cultural identity, spectacle, and global city image; public realm, placemaking, and inclusive urban open spaces; quality of urban life; decolonising architectural knowledge and pedagogy; and architecture and urbanism in emerging cities of the Global South.

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