Leila Araghian ( fa, لیلا عراقیان; born 1983), is an

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

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 ...

. She has a Master degree of Architecture from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

, where she won the UBC Architecture Alumni Henry Elder Prize. She previously studied architecture in Iran, at

Shahid Beheshti University Shahid Behesti University ( fa, دانشگاه شهید بهشتی , Dāneshgāh-e Shahid Beheshti) (formerly known as the National University of Iran) is a public research university in Tehran, Iran. The university offers many programs at Bache ...

. In 2005, Araghian co-founded Diba Tensile Architecture, a company specialising in the design, manufacture and installation of

membrane structure Membrane structures are spatial structures made out of tensioned membranes. The structural use of membranes can be divided into pneumatic structures, tensile membrane structures, and cable domes. In these three kinds of structure, membranes work ...

s. She was chief architect and designer of the Tabiat Bridge in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

, a pedestrian bridge opened in late 2014 which has won several prizes, including 2016

Aga Khan Award for Architecture The Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) is an architectural prize established by Aga Khan IV in 1977. It aims to identify and reward architectural concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of Muslim societies in the field ...

for Architecture, and the Popular Choice award in the Highways & Bridges category of Architizer's 2015 A+ Awards. Araghian's Iranian heritage has restricted her international exposure; she was not allowed to enter the

World Architecture Festival The World Architecture Festival (WAF) is an annual festival and awards ceremony, one of the most prestigious events dedicated to the architecture and development industry. The first four events were held in Barcelona, from 2008 to 2011, at which p ...

because of

sanctions against Iran There have been a number of sanctions against Iran imposed by a number of countries, especially the United States, and international entities. Iran was the most sanctioned country in the world until it was surpassed by Russia following its inva ...

. The architect herself spoke out against the sanctions because according to her, "this is ridiculous, I’m an Iranian architect and this is a cultural activity, it has absolutely nothing to do with politics." She was photographed in September 2015 by Brandon Stanton for the Humans of New York trip to Iran.

References

Iranian women architects University of British Columbia Faculty of Applied Science alumni Living people 1983 births Shahid Beheshti University alumni {{architect-stub