Senior Researcher
Dr. Ayham Dalal
Ernst-Reuter-Platz 1
10587 Berlin
Office: BH-N 205
T + 49 – 30 – 314 – 73783
Curriculum Vitae
Ayham Dalal works as Research Assistant at Habitat Unit (since January 2018) has a PhD in architecture (with distinction) from the Technische Universität Berlin.
In his research, Ayham focuses on urban space, informality, resilience, culture, power dynamics, and identity politics. In particular, he is interested in the socio-spatial practices and transformations of space and how they can be mapped and visualized through mixed media and illustration techniques. His research is driven by strong interest in ethnography, anthropology, cultural studies and urbanization theories and how they can be linked to architectural design and contemporary urban practices. Currently Ayham is co-leading and researching the project "Architectures of Asylum" which compares the socio-spatial practices of refugees in Jordan and Germany, at the Collaborative Research Center "Re-Figurations of Space" (SFB1265) funded by the German Society for Research (DFG). He is also a principal investigator for the art-research initiative "Tracing and Assessing Syrian Urban Heritage in Exile" which has been grounded in 2017 and is funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation. Working with a team of artists and researchers, the initiative explores the intersections between memory, heritage, place and displacement among Syrian refugees in Germany, Lebanon and Jordan.
In his PhD "From Shelters to Dwellings: On the Construction of Dwellings in Zaatari Camp, Jordan", Ayham looks at the intersections between the production of space, home, identity and the refugee camp. From the macro to the micro, he utilizes ethnographic observations, co-mappings, narratives, 3D modeling and detailed architectural drawings to explain processes ranging from camps production and planning, to spatial transformation, social grouping, and the representations of identity, home-making and the social coding of space. He has co-curated a touring exhibition under the title "The Durable Ephemeral: When the Temporary Settles" with the support of the French Institute in the Near East (Ifpo) in which Ayham is a fellow researcher.
Before joining the Habitat Unit, Ayham studied architecture in Syria and graduated with excellence from the double master degree at Ain Shams University (Cairo) and Stuttgart University in 2014. Between 2015 and 2017 he has taught at TU Berlin and the German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech) and worked as consultant for the UK Prince's Charity (Turquoise Mountain). In parallel to research, Ayham practices art, graphic design and music production.
2015 - 2020
Doctoral Dissertation, TU Berlin
From Shelters to Dwellings: On the Construction of Dwellings in Zaatari Camp, Jordan (Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Philipp Misselwitz and Prof. Dr. Nina Gribat).
2012 - 2014
Master of Science in Integrated Urbanisma and Sustainable Design (M. Sc.), Stuttgart University and Aim Shams University,
(Thesis) Camp Cities between Planning and Practice: Mapping the Urbanisation of Zaatari Camp. (Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Nina Gribat, Prof. Dr. Mohamed Salheen, Dr. Yehya Serag, M. Arch. Omar Aziz Hallaj).
2005 - 2011
Bachelor in Architectural Engineering (BA), Al-Bath University, Syria
(Thesis) Planning and Designing the Campus of Tartous University in Syria.
since 2018
Research Assistant
Collaborative Research Center “Re-Figurations of Space”, TU Berlin
2017
Consultant
Turquoise Mountain (UK Prince's Charity Organization for the Safeguarding of Cultural Heritage), Jordan
2016 – 2017
Lecturer and Teaching Assistant
Habitat Unit, TU Berlin
2015
Teaching Assistant
Urban Planning Studio, GUtech Oman
2011 – 2012
Architect
Ai-Jidar Architects, Jordan
2011
Architect and Urban Planner
PRP|Architects International (UK-UAE), Syria
2007 – 2010
Internship
Jalal Msaddi Studio, Homs, Syria
WS 2020/2021
Seminar: “Refugees and Urban Space”, Urban Planning Studies, Vassar College, New York, USA.
WS 2018/2019
Research-Teaching Studio: "Tempohomes", Urbanism and Architecture Master Course, TU Berlin. With Philipp Misselwitz, Christoph Muth, Amer Darweesh, Aline Fraikin and Tareq Muhammad.
WS 2016/2017
Studio: "Greening Refugee Camps – Al Husun Camp", Urbanism and Architecture Master Course, TU Berlin and Petra University (Jordan). With Philipp Misselwitz and Nina Pawlicki.
WS 2015/2016
Studio: "Greening Refugee Camps – Jarash Camp", Urbanism and Architecture Master Course, TU Berlin and Petra University (Jordan). With Philipp Misselwitz and Nina Pawlicki.
WS 2014/ 2015
Studio: "Muscat as a Coastal City", Architecture Bachelor Course, German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech). With Frank Eisemann.
Refereed Articles
(2021) “The Refugee Camp as Site of Encounters”, Review of the Middle East Studies, Cambridge University Press, forthcoming.
(2020) “Why ‘now’ is an important moment in history: Coronavirus and the refigured mobility of the world”, Town Planning Review, Liverpool University Press, 1-9.
(2020) “The Refugee Camp as urban Housing”, Housing Studies, 1–23. doi:10.1080/02673037.2020.1782850.
(2018) "Planning the Ideal Refugee Camp? A Critical Interrogation of Recent Planning Innovations in Jordan and Germany", Urban Planning, 3(4), 64-78.
(2017) Uncovering Culture and Identity in Refugee Camps, Humanities, 6(3), 61.
(2015) Between Space and Politics: Problematizing Governance in Zaatari Camp in Northern
Jordan, Idafat Journal (Arab Journal of Sociology), Vol. 31/32, p. 118-133. [Text in Arabic].
(2015) A Socio-Economic Perspective on the Urbanisation of Zaatari Camp inJordan, Migration Letters, Vol. 12, No. 3, p. 263-278.
Book chapters
(2021) with Aline Fraikin and Antonia Noll, “Appropriating Tempohomes”, InSpatial Transformations: The Effect of Mediatization, Mobility and Social Dislocation on the Re-Figuration of Spaces, edited by Angela Million, Christian Haid, Ignacio Castillo Ulloa and Nina Baur. Routledge. Forthcoming.
(2021) with Petra Heber and Leticia Palomino “Appropriating Azraq Camp”, In Inhabiting Displacement, edited by Shahd Wari, Maja Momic and Somayeh Chichtani. Birkhäuser. Forthcoming.
(2021) with Aline Fraikin, “The Production of Syrian Refugee Camps in Jordan”, InForced Migration in Jordan, edited by Valentina Napolitano, Jalal Husseini and Norig Nevue. Bloomsburg. Forthcoming.
Books
(2021) with Kamel Doraï (eds), Camps: A Genealogy of Refugee Camps in the Middle East, Press de l’ifpo, Beirut. Forthcoming.
(2021) Dismantling and Reassembling the Refugee Camp through Dwelling, Transcript Verlag, Re-Figurations of Space Series. Forthcoming.
Other articles and publications
“Displacement and the City: Interview with Ayham Dalal”, Europe Now Journal, Issue: Networks of Solidarity During Crisis, CES at Columbia University, 2020: https://www.europenowjournal.org/2020/10/11/displacement-and-the-city-an-interview-with-ayham-dalal/
with Philipp Misselwitz (2017) Architecture of Asylum as Spaces of Negotiation: Camp Cities between Universal Humanitarian Order and Local Agency' [In German], ARCH+, 230, 32-41.
(2017) 'Assessment on Craftsmanship and Syrian Cultural Heritage in Azraq Camp; Turquoise Mountain (Report).
(2016) 'Syrian Refugees in Jordan: Challenges, Potentials and the Right to the Urban, Amnesty International.
(2016) Responding to the Refugees, 'Design' Design Crisis, XXI, e-Zine for Architecture and Design, Istanbul.
(2016) Zaatari, Stadt Aspekte, Vol. 4, p. 10-13.
(2015) Between Space and Politics: The Problematization of Governance in Zaatari Camp in Northern Jordan, Idafat Journal (Arab Journal of Sociology), Vol. 31/32, p. 118-133. [Text in Arabic].
(2015) A Socio-Economic Perspective on the Urbanisation of Zaatari Camp in Jordan, Migration Letters, Vol. 12, No. 3, p. 263-278.
(2015) The Emergence of Habitat in Zaatari Camp in Jordan: Between Humanitarian and Socio-Cultural Order, Trialog, Vol. 112/113, p. 43-58.
(2014) The Emergence of Habitat in Zaatari Camp: Between Humanitarian and Socio-Cultural Order, IUSD Journal, Cairo, Ain Shams University.
Dalal, A. et al (2013) Negotiating the Future: Observations and Visions of Urban Phenomena in Djerba, IUSD Publications, Cairo, Ain Shams University.
Conference papers
(2019) Negotiating Materials: An Excavation of Dwelling in Zaatari Camp, Power, Borders and Ecologies in Arab Societies: Practices and Imaginaries, Arab Council for Social Sciences (ACSS), Beirut.
(2019) Dwelling as Negotiating, Displacement & Domesticity since 1945: Refugee, Migrants and Expats making homes, Brussels.
(2019) Planning the Ideal Refugee Camp, First SFB International Conference, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin.
(2018) Refugees as Architects: Urban Informality and Spatial Agency in Zaatari Camp, Tbilisi Architectural Biennial – Buildings are Not Enough, Tbilisi.
(2018) Negotiating Materials: An Excavation of Dwellings in Zaatari Camp, Pluralism in Emergenc(i)es: Movement, Space, and Religious Difference, Columbia University (Global Centers), Tunis.
(2018) Refugees as Architects, LAJEH Conference, Lebanese American University and Fabrika, Beirut.
(2018) The Planning of Refugee Camps as a Form of Housing, Forced Migrations in Jordan and the Middle East, The French Institute for Research in the Near East (Ifpo), Amman.
(2017) The Production of Syrian Refugee Camps in Jordan, Pluralism in Emergenc(i)es: Movement, Space, and Religious Difference, Columbia University (Global Centers), Amman.
(2017) From Shelters to Homes: On the Political Economy, Architecture and Culture of the Home-Making in Zaatari Camp, Pluralism in Emergenc(i)es: Movement, Space, and Religious Difference, Columbia University (Global Centers), Amman.
(2017) Tracing Camps Production in Jordan, Spaces of Refuge: Infrastructures, Sovereignties, Economies, Tampere University, Finland.
(2017) Reading the Urban Morphology of Zaatari Camp, LAJEH Conference, The French Institute for Research in the Near East (Ifpo), Amman.
(2016) Urban Informality and Refugee Camps in the Middle East, De-framing the Mediterranean from the 21 st Century: Places, Routes, Actors, Forum Transregionale Studien (EUME), Crete.
(2016) Tracing the Urbanization of Syrian Refugee Camps in Jordan, Royal Geographical Society; IBG Annual Conference 2016, London.
(2015) The Phantom of Camps: Beyond the Political (Im-) Possibility of Zaatari Camp in Jordan, International Conference for Critical Geography ICCG, Ramallah.
(2019) Potentials and Challenges of Mapping Syrian Urban Heritage.
Invited lecture in the Course: Contemporary visual cultures in/of the 'Middle East': an interdisciplinary survey of (mis)representation, Bard College, Berlin.
(2019) Planning the Ideal Refugee Camp? Inside-Out Outside-In: Shifting Architectures of Refugees Inhabitation, Max-Planck-Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen.
(2018) "Memory, Place, Heritage, Displacement": Reflections on Practices of Mapping Spatial Memory and Urban Heritage among Displaced Syrians from Homs", Out of the Archives...New Archival Practices: Towards Alternative Historiographies, Voices and Spaces, Forum Transregionale Studien, Berlin.
(2018) We Refugees, We Architects: Zaatari Camp between Humanitarianism, Transnationalism and Local Social Agendas, City Debates (Architecture-as- Urbanism: Agenda for the New Millennium), American University of Beirut, Beirut.
(2018) The Refugee as Architect, Architecture of Camps (Course at the Masters of International Development Studies), Tampere University, Finland.
(2018) Caravanized Urbanism: Territoriality, Morphology and the Social Structuring of Space in Zaatari Camp, Navigating Displacement and Humanitarian Responses: Discourses and Experiences of Syrian Refugees and Aid Providers in Jordan, Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam.
with Kamel Doraï (2017) Syrian Camps in Jordan, Refugee Camps Today: When the Temporary Settles Over Time (Round Table), The French Institute of Jordan (IFJ) and the French Institute of Research in the Near East (Ifpo), Amman.
(2017) What is a Refugee Camp?, Le Nuit des Idees (Round Table), The French Institute in Jordan (IFJ) and the French Institute for Research in the Near East (Ifpo), Amman.
(2016) Tracing the Urbanization of Syrian Refugee Camps in Jordan, Royal Geographical Society, IBG Annual Conference, London.
(2015) The Phantom of Camps: Beyond the Political (Im-) Possibility of Zaatari Camp in Jordan, International Conference for Critical Geography ICCG, Ramallah.
(2016) Jordan: Refuge of Camps and Informal Cities, W3 – Werkstatt für Internationale Politik und Kultur, Hamburg.
(2016) Syrian Refugees in Jordan: Potentials, Challenges, and the Right to the Urban, International Community and Refugees Conference, Amnesty International & Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Istanbul.
(2016) Reflections on Displacement and Urbanism: The Case of Zaatari Camp, Urban Seminar Series, Zentrum Moderne Orient (ZMO), Berlin.
(2016) Beyond Camp-Cities: Learning from the Urbanization of the Syrian Refugee Camp 'Zaatari' in Jordan, Urban Talk Series 011, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin.
(2015) On the Urbanisation of Zaatari Camp in Jordan, UPAD Lecture Series 07, Muscat.
(2014) Planning Zaatari Camp, Innovation and Planning Agency (IPA) grounding workshop,
Berlin.
2019
Visiting Fellow
Refugee Studies Center (RSC), University of Oxford, UK.
2017 – 2018
Full grant for the art-research project 'Tracing and Assessing Syrian Urban Heritage in Exile' (Mare Nostrum) with Mada Saleh
Gerda Henkel Stiftung
2017 – 2018
Research Fellow
The French Institute for Research in the Near Orient (Ifpo)
2017
Finalist for the international design competition 'Place and Displacement: A Marketplace in Refugee Settlements' with Nuha Innab
International Development in Action (IDeA)
2015 – 2018
Stipend for academic research (Leadership for Syria)
Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst (DAAD)
2015
Stipend for free waiver from Antipode Magazine (US)
International Conference for Critical Geography (ICCG), Ramallah.
2012 – 2014
Stipend for academic study at the double master degree 'Integrated Urbanism and Sustainable Design' (IUSD) between Stuttgart University and Ain Shams University
Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst (DAAD)
2008
Third Prize in the international competition for students in the Mediterranean region and Europe 'Sham Spiritual Oasis' with Somar Taifor COSV (Italy) and Deir Mar Musa (Syria).
Since 2016:
Institut français du Proche-Orient (IFPO Amman) - LAJEH Project
Since 2014
Member in Freunde der Altstadt von Aleppo e.V. Stuttgart, Germany
Since 2011
Full membership in the Jordanian Engineers Association (JEA)
Since 2011
Associate membership in the Jordan Green Buildings Council (Jordan GBC)