Avar Almukhtar

Kurdish from Iraq

I am an Architect and Urban Designer. Currently I am in my final year as a PhD student in Urban Design department of Planning, Oxford Brookes University. My research is on place-identity in historic cities, looking at how during rapid urban development places loosing their local place-identity, trying to develop Urban Design strategies that can integrate new development in historic areas that responds to the modernism and reflects culture and history. Prior to the PhD, I have worked in practice for five years. I was involved in master planning for affordable housing complex in Erbil as well as different architecture and urban design projects at various scales. Being part of BUDS 2015 allowed me to explore and gain international experience by working with Brazilian universities and Governmental authorities. Additionally it was an opportunity to use the research skills that I have developed during the PhD process in a different context.