Hisham N. Ashkouri ( ar, هشام أشكري, born August 15, 1948) is a

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

-based

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Ealry Life

Ashkouri was born August 15, 1948 in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. He 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 The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

under the late

Louis I. Kahn Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky; – March 17, 1974) was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. Whi ...

in 1973. He further completed his Urban Design studies at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and

M.I.T. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

with Masters in Urban Design in 1975. Ashkouri completed his Doctoral work in the field of Ergonomics at

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

in 1983. Ashkouri worked with

Hisham Munir Hisham A. Munir () is an Iraqi architect known for pioneering architectural modernism in Iraq. Early life Hisham A. Munir was born in February, 1930 in Baghdad, Mandatory Iraq. He studied at the American University of Beirut, University of Tex ...

and Associates in Iraq before coming to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He then worked at The Architects Collaborative in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, 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. in 1986 as an independent architect and urban designer. Ashkouri has initiated several international developments mainly in Iraq and Afghanistan including the Baghdad Renaissance Plan, $13 billion, the Tahrir Square Development, $860 million, the

Sindbad Hotel Complex and Conference Center The Sindbad Hotel Complex and Conference Center is located in Baghdad, Iraq. History It is named after Sinbad the Sailor. Designed by architect Hisham N. Ashkouri in 2004, it was to be the first new high-rise hotel, conference center and movie ...

, $35 billion, the

City of Light Development {{Short description, Urban reconstruction plan in Afghanistan The Kabul - City Of Light Development is an urban reconstruction plan, first proposed by urban planner and architect Hisham N. Ashkouri to revitalize the capital city of Afghanistan. T ...

, Kabul, $9.6 billion and the Afghan National Museum, Library and Cultural Center, $247 million, both for the reconstruction of Kabul. Ashkouri is currently working on developments in the United States.

National work

Ashkouri is the architect and developer of the Cold Spring Green townhouse development in Newton, MA - a modern, open concept design integrating green energy systems. Ashkouri established the standard specifications for branches of the U.S. Post Office. He contributed to the Pediatrics floors of the

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...

in Boston, and has also performed restoration and renovation work on many public and municipal buildings throughout New England. While working for

The Architects' Collaborative The Architects Collaborative (TAC) was an American architectural firm formed by eight architects that operated between 1945 to 1995 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The founding members were Norman C. Fletcher (1917-2007), Jean B. Fletcher (1915-1965 ...

in 1974, Ashkouri led the

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

and design effort for the conceptual plan for the expansion of the Capitol Center for the City of

Tallahassee, FL Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...

, and in 1983 was architect for the interior spaces, conference center, and guest rooms of the Westin Hotel at

Copley Place Copley Place is an enclosed shopping mall within the mixed-use Copley Square in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It features direct indoor connections to several nearby destinations including four office towers, and the Bosto ...

in Boston, MA.

International work

Ashkouri's designs abroad include: * University of Baghdad Campus Expansion (with TAC) *

, Baghdad, Iraq * Baghdad Renaissance Plan,

, Iraq *

Tahrir Square Development , ar, تحرير is a word of Arabic origin, meaning ''liberation''. Uses of Tahrir include: *''Al Tahrir'' - an Egyptian daily *''Tahrir al-Wasilah'' - a book authored by Ayatollah Khomeini *Tahrir Square - major public square in Cairo (also in ...

, Baghdad, Iraq *

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

, Afghanistan * Afghan National Museum, Kabul, Afghanistan *Area 5 and Area 9 Parking Structures, Kuwait City, Kuwait *Regatta Mediterranean Resort, Tripoli, Libya *Noorland - a Green, New City Development, Kazan, Tatarstan, Russian Federation Ashkouri has developed city-scale reconstruction and infrastructure plans for war-torn countries such as

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

through his architecture firm ARCADD, Inc. He has garnered support for a number of these developments through private sector investment, and he has received insurance support from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) for these projects. He has worked on promoting US-made products for these developments with the

US Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for busin ...

. Ashkouri has supported private investment in Kabul jointly with the

Embassy of Afghanistan Following the 2021 fall of Kabul to the Taliban, diplomatic missions of Afghanistan set up by the deposed government, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, have largely continued operating. Because attempts by former Islamic Republic of Afghanist ...

in the U.S.

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. 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 UAE Public Library and Cultural Center is actually three buildings: a 1,000,000 volume National Library, a performance auditorium and a Conference/Exhibit Center. The site includes a main entrance court with a central fountain, an amphitheat ...

, the Killington Skiing Village Complex Design Competition for

Killington, Vermont Killington is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,407 at the 2020 census. Killington Ski Resort and numerous vacation lodges are located here. The town was previously named Sherburne, but was renamed to its or ...

, 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 Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushin ...

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

, the first such play area for both able-bodied and disabled children.

References

External links