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The professional website of Professor Ashraf M. Salama with links to collections of publications and downloadable materials
Open House International (OHI) is an interdisciplinary research journal in architecture, building technology, housing, urban design and planning.
Open House International (OHI) is an interdisciplinary research journal in architecture, building technology, housing, urban design and planning.
Open House International: Sustainable & Smart Architecture and Urban Studies (OHI) is an interdisciplinary research journal in built environment studies speaking to the disciplines and areas of interest in architecture, building technology, housing, urban design and planning. The journal aims at establishing effective links between theory and design and education and practice in these fields. OHI publishes articles in the following two areas as they relate to the built environment.
Socially and Culturally Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism: This area involves a range of topics that include action planning; affordable homes; building and urban design; building design and planning for social sustainability; culture and built form; gender issues in design; habitat agenda; housing planning and production; slum improvement and redevelopment; socio-spatial justice; user participation; vernacular architecture and self-built housing development.
Built Environment Tectonics and Technologies: This area involves topics that include building technologies and materiality; building performance and energy simulation and conservation strategies; environmental planning and design; open building; prefabrication and industrialisation; restoration and conservation technologies; tectonics of traditional and contemporary architecture; and application of information technologies in design and construction processes.
Brief History
Brief History
Open House International was founded by Nicholas Wilkinson in 1976 and acquired by Emerald Publishing in 2020. For more than four decades, Professor Wilkinson led the journal until sadly passing away in 2017. Ashraf Salama has been a collaborating editor since 2006 and Professor Yonca Hurol has been the international technical editor of the journal since 2010. With the transition to Emerald, the aim was to strengthen ties among scholars worldwide, diversify content, and address issues of concern to the global community of architects and planners working in built environment related fields. As part of this transition, the journal was also rebranded as Open House International: Sustainable & Smart Architecture and Urban Studies, reflecting its expanded scope and contemporary focus. In 2022, Professor Salama stepped aside and became an honorary editor, and Dr Chaham Alalouch became co-chief editor alongside Professor Hurol.
OHI is indexed in Scopus and ranked Q1 by SCImago Journal & Country Rank (SJR) in the subject categories of Architecture, Urban Studies, and Q2 in Geography and Urban Planning, and is listed in the Web of Science through Clarivate's Arts & Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) and the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). These rankings reflect the journal's growing international standing in architecture and built environment research.
The following two editorials reflect on key evolutionary aspects of the journal:
Polyphonic narratives for built environment research Salama, A. M., & Hurol, Y. (2020). Open House International, 45(1/2), 1–10.
On Open House International, the open building approach and Nicholas Wilkinson Hurol, Y., & Salama, A. M. (2020). Open House International, 45(4), 343–371.
OHI Special Issues
OHI Special Issues
Urban Transformations in Rapidly Growing Contexts, Vol. 44, No. 4, December 2019
Guest Editors: Yonca Hurol & Ashraf M. Salama. This issue examines the dynamics of rapid urban transformation across diverse geographical contexts, addressing the social, spatial, and environmental consequences of accelerated urbanisation and the challenges facing architects, planners, and policymakers in managing city growth.
Editorial: On Rapid Urban Transformations
Research Perspectives on Urban Performance, Vol. 44, No. 1, March 2019
Guest Editors: Ashraf M. Salama & David Grierson. Bringing together scholars from multiple disciplines, this issue explores the concept of urban performance through three interconnected lenses — the imagined, the measured, and the experienced — offering new frameworks for understanding how cities function and how they are perceived.
Editorial: Urban Performance Between the Imagined, the Measured, and the Experienced
Advances in Sustainable Architecture & Urbanism, Vol. 41, No. 4, December 2016
Guest Editors: David Grierson & Ashraf M. Salama. This issue advances current debates on sustainability in architecture and urban design, drawing on contributions that span environmental performance, social equity, and design innovation, and reflecting on the evolving relationship between sustainable development and the built environment.
Editorial: Forging Advances in Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism
Architecture & Urbanism in the Global South, Vol. 41, No. 2, June 2016
Guest Editors: Ashraf M. Salama & David Grierson. This issue presents an expedition into the architecture and urbanism of regions in the Global South, examining local responses to globalisation, rapid urbanisation, and the tensions between cultural identity and contemporary practice across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Editorial: An Expedition into Architecture and Urbanism of the Global South
Unveiling Urban Transformations in the Arabian Peninsula, Vol. 38, No. 4, December 2013
Guest Editors: Ashraf M. Salama & Florian Wiedmann. This issue focuses on the rapidly evolving cities of the Arabian Peninsula, investigating the spatial, social, and economic forces shaping urban development in the Gulf region and offering critical perspectives on the implications of large-scale urban projects for communities and identities.
Editorial: Evolving Urbanism of Cities on the Arabian Peninsula
Urban Space Diversity: Paradoxes and Realities, Vol. 37, No. 2, June 2012
Guest Editors: Ashraf M. Salama & Alain Thierstein. This issue revisits the concept of urban diversity, questioning its paradoxes and contradictions in contemporary cities and bringing together critical perspectives on social mixing, spatial segregation, and the realities of living in increasingly complex and multicultural urban environments.
Editorial: Rethinking Urban Diversity: Paradoxes and Realities
Affordable Housing, Quality, and Lifestyle Theories, Vol. 36, No. 3, September 2011
Guest Editors: Ashraf M. Salama & Urmi Sengupta. This issue examines shifting paradigms in affordable housing, challenging conventional notions of quality and exploring how lifestyle theories can inform more responsive and socially equitable approaches to housing design, planning, and policy.
Editorial: Changing Paradigms in Affordable Housing, Quality, and Lifestyle Theories
Shaping the Future of Learning Environments, Vol. 34, No. 1, March 2009
Guest Editor: Ashraf M. Salama. This issue addresses the design and pedagogy of learning environments, bringing together contributions that examine emerging paradigms and best practices for creating educational spaces that are inspiring, inclusive, and conducive to contemporary modes of learning.
Editorial: A Bright Future for Creating Environments Conducive to Learning
Ecotourism and Ecolodges, Vol. 32, No. 4, December 2007
Guest Editor: Ashraf M. Salama. This issue explores the intersection of sustainable tourism and built environment design, examining planning strategies and design approaches for environmentally sensitive tourism facilities that respect local ecosystems, cultures, and communities.
Editorial: Whatever the Name is, the Concern is for People and Environments
Design Studio Teaching Practices, Vol. 31, No. 3, September 2006
Guest Editor: Ashraf M. Salama. This issue examines the evolving landscape of design studio pedagogy, presenting a range of perspectives on traditional, revolutionary, and virtual models of studio teaching and highlighting the commitment of educators worldwide to reshaping architectural education.
Editorial: Committed Educators are Reshaping Studio Pedagogy
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