Suad Amiry has won the Great Arab Minds award for Architecture and Design. The Palestinian architect and author is being recognised for her work in preserving the architectural heritage of Palestine.
As founder of Riwaq Centre for Architectural Conservation, Amiry was instrumental in one of the largest documentation initiatives in Palestine, establishing a registry of more than 50,000 historic buildings.
She has also overseen the restoration of dozens of sites, providing cultural and community centres in 50 villages. In addition, she has been involved in training craftspeople in traditional building techniques and in helping residents rebuild their homes. As such, her work has helped revive entire villages.
Amiry’s research into traditional Palestinian homes has also been vital. She has meticulously detailed several topologies, delving into stonework, floorings, as well as decorative aspects and layouts. Before launching Riwaq in 1991, Amiry was a faculty member at Birzeit University.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, publicly congratulated Amiry on X.
“She has played a leading role in preserving Palestinian architectural heritage by restoring historic buildings and adapting them in ways that strengthen architectural identity and support local communities,” Sheikh Mohammed, who is the patron for the award, said. “We congratulate her on her well-deserved win and her decades of dedication. May Palestine be blessed with peace and stability, may its historic buildings and villages regain the life they deserve, and may its heritage continue to thrive for as long as Arab memory endures.”
Amiry is also a published writer. Her 2022 novel Mother of Strangers is a story set in Jaffa between 1947 and 1951, detailing the events of the Nakba as well as its direct aftermath. In My Damascus, published in 2021, Amiry traces three generations of her family’s history, drawing on memories of the old Damascene neighbourhood where she was born.
However, Amiry’s literary output is best known for Sharon and my Mother-in-Law. The 2003 work recounts the frustrations of daily life in Ramallah. It is based on diary and email correspondence dating back to 1981.
Amiry has won a number of accolades, including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, granted for the revitalisation of the Birzeit Historic Centre with Riwaq. The Great Arab Minds Award, nevertheless, comes as a significant moment of recognition for the architect, acknowledging her legacy of decades’ worth of work.
Sheikh Mohammed launched the Great Arab Minds award in January 2022, allocating Dh100 million ($27.2 million) to fund the initiative. The prize is aimed at celebrating achievements by Arab thinkers and cultural figures. Its six categories comprise natural sciences, economics, medicine, literature and arts, engineering and technology, as well as architecture and design.
