Hisham N. Ashkouri
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| Hisham Nasrat Ashkouri | |
 Hisham N. Ashkouri Portrait |
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| Personal Information | |
|---|---|
| Name | Hisham Nasrat Ashkouri |
| Nationality | USA/Iraq |
| Birth date | August 15, 1948 |
| Birth place | Baghdad |
| Work | |
| Practice Name | Hisham Nasrat Ashkouri/ARCADD, Inc. |
| Significant Buildings | Abu Dhabi Public Library and Cultural Center, Baghdad City Hall |
| Significant Projects | Baghdad Renaissance Plan City of Light Development |
Hisham N. Ashkouri (born August 15, 1948, Baghdad, Iraq) is a Boston and New York-based architect/iraqi architect.
Dr. Ashkouri graduated first in class in 1970 with a Bachelor of Architecture Degree from the University of Baghdad and continued for his Masters of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania under the late Louis I. Kahn in 1973. He further completed his Urban Design studies at Harvard University and M.I.T. with a Masters in Urban Design in 1975. Dr. Ashkouri completed his Doctoral work in the field of Ergonomics at Tufts University in 1983.
Dr. Ashkouri worked with Hisham Munir and Associates in Iraq before coming to the United States. He then worked at The Architects Collaborative in Cambridge, MA, contributing to the Arlington Hadassah Way and the Westin Hotel at Copley Place, both in Boston, as well as the University of Baghdad Campus Expansion, before establishing ARCADD, Inc.[1] in 1986 as an independent architect and urban designer. Dr. Ashkouri has initiated several international developments mainly in Iraq and Afghanistan including the Baghdad Renaissance Plan[2], $13 billion, the Tahrir Square Development, $860 million, the Sindbad Hotel Complex and Conference Center[3], $115 million, the City of Light Development[4], Kabul, $9.6 billion including Jade Meywand Avenue [5] and the Afghan National Museum, Library and Cultural Center, $247 million, both for the reconstruction of Kabul.
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[edit] Competitions
His first winning design competition entry was for the Government of Iraq in 1972 while working with Hisham Munir and Associates, for the “First Oil Compound to be built for the Nation”, the Ministry of Oil and Minerals. Other national competitions awarded were for the Baghdad City Hall, the College of Agriculture at Sulimaniyah, and the Ministry of Justice. [6] He was also declared the winner of the design competition for the Baghdad Opera House, but that award was rescinded when the government of Iraq realized he was in the United States. He won the International Design Competition for the UAE Public Library and Cultural Center, the Killington Skiing Village Complex Design Competition for Killington, VT, the competition for the Kansai-Khan Library in Tokyo, Japan, and the design competition for the Playground For All Children in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, NY, the first such play area for both able-bodied and disabled children. [7]
[edit] Urban planning
Dr. Ashkouri performed work on the new city plan for Tallahassee, FL while working for TAC. He has since devised urban planning developments for Baghdad, Iraq (the Baghdad Renaissance Plan) and Kabul, Afghanistan (the Kabul - City of Light Development).
[edit] National work
Dr. Ashkouri established the standard specifications for branches of the U.S. Post Office. He contributed to the Pediatrics floors of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston [8], and has also performed restoration and renovation work on many public and municipal buildings throughout New England.
[edit] International work
Dr. Ashkouri’s designs abroad include:
- The Abu Dhabi Public Library and Cultural Center, Abu Dhabi, UAE
- Concept Designs for the Municipality of Ajman, Ajman, UAE [9]
- University of Baghdad Campus Expansion (with TAC)
- Area 5 and Area 9 Parking Structures, Kuwait City, Kuwait [10]
- Sindbad Hotel Complex and Conference Center, Baghdad, Iraq
- Baghdad Renaissance Plan, Baghdad, Iraq
- Tahrir Square Development, Baghdad, Iraq
- City of Light Development, Kabul, Afghanistan
- Afghan National Museum, Kabul, Afghanistan
[edit] Recent work
Dr. Ashkouri is developing city-scale reconstruction and infrastructure plans for war-torn countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as plans for the development of new cities in Libya, Afghanistan and has developed municipal concepts for the Municipality of Ajman in the United Arab Emirates[11]. He has garnered support for a number of these developments through private sector investment, but he has received insurance support from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) for these projects, and has worked on promoting US-made products for these developments with the US Department of Commerce, and supported private investment in Kabul jointly with the Embassy of Afghanistan in the U.S.
[edit] External links
- ARCADD, Inc.
- Kabul — City of Light, 9 Billion dollar modern urban development project
- Sindbad Hotel Complex and Conference Center
- Baghdad Renaissance Plan
- Architect Envisions New Baghdad
- UAE Investors Keen On Taking Part In Baghdad Renaissance Project
- Iraq Museum International: Interview with Hisham Ashkouri
- Man With A Plan: Hisham Ashkouri
- Renaissance Plan In The News
- AISA — Afghanistan International Investment Conference & Exhibit, 9–12 May 2006
- Playground For All Children
