Leicester School of Architecture, De Montfort University
Dr Beniamino Polimeni
Beniamino Polimeni is a researcher, designer and an architectural conservator. His scholarly interests include vernacular architecture, Islamic architecture, and architecture representation. He received his Master Degree from the School of Architecture of the “Università Mediterranea” of Reggio Calabria in 2004, focusing his attention on architectural conservation from both a theoretical and technical point of view. He studied from 2004 to 2006 at the Graduate School of Architectural and Landscape Heritage of the “Università Degli Studi di Genova”, undertaking field research in Mediterranean Maghreb and Eastern Asia. In 2010 he received his PhD from the Italian National Doctorate School in ‘Representation and Survey Sciences’- a consortium of various institutions located at “Università Degli Studi di Firenze” – focusing his attention on the historical and structural aspects of the traditional architecture of the Mediterranean area. In 2013 he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Aga Khan Program for Islamic architecture at M.I.T, where he carried out research on the Ibadi regions of Maghreb, highlighting the relationships among historical aspects, vernacular settlements, and the cultural dimensions of the peoples who have inhabited these areas. After having acquired significant teaching and research experience as an assistant professor and curriculum designer in Italy and Turkey respectively, he is currently a Lecturer in Architecture at the Leicester School of Architecture at De Montfort University.
Dr Yasser Megahed
Yasser Megahed is a Lecturer at Leicester School of Architecture, UK. He is a registered architect and researcher with fifteen years of experience in the profession and academia in the UK and the Middle East. Yasser holds a PhD by Design degree from the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University, as well as MSc and BA degrees in Architecture. His research interests include interrogating cultures of contemporary architectural practice through practice-based methodologies, bridging design research, professional practice research and history and theory of architecture, design fiction as research methods in addition to a special interest in the use of graphic novels as a technique for communicating architectural ideas His by-design research culminated in the architectural graphic novel: ‘Practiceopolis, Journeys in the Architectural Profession’ (Under review with Routledge). In practice, Yasser worked as an associate of the Design Office—a design research practice operating out of the School of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape, Newcastle University. Previously, he worked as an Assistant Lecturer at the department of Architecture, Cairo University and as a Senior Architect and design team leader at AUG: Architecture and Urbanism Group – Cairo, where he was involved in several projects and winning architectural competitions covering different building typologies in Egypt and the Middle-East.