Yara Sharif | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater |
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| Years active | 2007–present |
| Spouse | Nasser Golzari |
Yara Sharif is a Palestinian architect and Senior Lecturer at the University of Westminster. Her work has earned a number of accolades, including a Holcim Foundation Award and the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. She frequently collaborates with Nasser Golzari and Murray Fraser.
Sharif graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture (BArch) from Birzeit University. [1] She went on to complete a Masters in Architecture, a Graduate Certificate of Education, and a PhD at the University of Westminster. Sharif's PhD thesis was commended for the RIBA President's Award for Outstanding PhD Thesis. [2]
Sharif began her career working as a Senior Partner for Nasser Golzari's firm NG Architects. She co-founded the Palestine Regeneration Team (PART) with him and Murray Fraser. Sharif and Golzari's five-year work revitalizing Birzeit Historic Centre, led by Riwaq Centre for Architectural Conservation, won the 2013 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. [3] For their work on a women's centre and playground in Beit Iksa, Sharif and her colleagues won the Acknowledgement Prize at the 2014 Holcim Foundation Awards for Sustainable Construction. [4]
In 2012, Sharif joined Oxford Brookes University as a Lecturer. In 2015, she returned to the University of Westminster as a Senior Lecturer. [5] Sharif, Golzari and Fraser received a nod at 2016 the RIBA President's Awards for Research in the Cities and Community category. [6]
Sharif and Golzari reunited with Riwaq Centre for Architectural Conservation to present Secrets of a Digital Garden: 50 flowers, 50 villages at the 2019 Chicago Architecture Biennial. [7]
At the 2023 Sharjah Architecture Triennial, Sharif and Golzari displayed their mixed-media installation titled The Power of the Invisibles. The pair started the initiative Architects for Gaza (AFG). [8] [9] By December 2023, "hundreds" of professionals in the field had signed a statement in support of Gaza, and by the following year, the initiative had developed a "series of collaborative architectural responses". [10] At the 2024 London Festival of Architecture, Architects for Gaza displayed a proposed Experimental Lab/Clinic to provide primary care in Gaza. [11] Also in 2024, AFG launched the Gaza Global University offering virtual education to the displaced people of Gaza. [12] Commissioned by the British Council, at the 2025 Venice Biennale, PART presented Objects of Repair as part of the British pavilion's Geology of Britannic Repair exhibition. [10]
Sharif and Golzari are married. [13]