Professor Gamal Abdelmonem
Chair in Architecture & Founding Director of Research

Profile

Biography

Gamal is trained as an architect and developed a career as an architectural and urban historian with research interest in anthropological and cultural interconnections of architecture as a profession, building practice and as an everyday way of life. His research focuses on architectural history and theory, architectural and urban heritage, architecture of home, socio-spatial practices of urban communities, museums of the future, virtual heritage technologies, and post-conflict cities. Gamal studied architecture and heritage in many parts of the world, with research projects in China, India, Egypt, Ireland, UK, Iraq, Jordan, Libya amongst many others. 

Career

Prior to joining York, Gamal was a Chair of Architecture at Nottingham Trent University, where he was the University lead of Strategic Research Theme on Global Heritage. He is the Founding Director of the Centre for Architecture, Urbanism and Global Heritage (CAUGH). Gamal held various academic and leadership roles at Queen’s University Belfast, Sheffield School of Architecture, where he got his PhD, and the University of Wolverhampton. He also served as Visiting Professor at The University of California at Berkeley (US, 2015-16), Royal College of Art (UK, 2013-14), and Beijing Institute of technology (China, 2022- ) and CEPT University (India, 2023-).

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Patron of the Home Renaissance Foundation, Gamal is multiple award winner and the recipient of The Queen’s Anniversary Prize (2022), NTU Research Excellence Award (2020), the Jeffrey Cook Award (2014), and was the runner up for the prestigious Newton Prize (2020). Gamal’s research has featured as the REF2021 Best Practice Impact Case Study across the Architecture and the Built Environment in the UK National Review.

Departmental roles

At York, Gamal is the Chair of Architecture and the Founding Director Research at York School of Architecture. He is the Founding Director of the Centre for Architecture, Urbanism and Global Heritage (CAUGH). He leads the PhD/MPhil in Architecture programmes. 

Research

Overview

Professor Abdelmonem sits on several strategic research & funding committees and panels in the United Kingdom (UKRI), the European Union (Horizon2020 & Horizon Europe), Germany, Portugal and others. Gamal’s research has informed governments, international organisations, and featured in leading academic journals and government policies.  His recent books include ‘Peripheries: Edge Conditions in Architecture’ (2012), ‘Portrush: Towards an Architecture for the North Irish Coast’ (2013); ‘The Architecture of Home in Cairo’ (2016), and “Architecture, Space and Memory of Resurrection in Northern Ireland” (2019); and ‘People, Care and Work in the Home’ (2020).

Projects

Gamal's current research interests include:

• Architecture history, theory & design
• Urban heritage preservation and regeneration; historic cities
• Architecture of home and urban culture
• Architecture and virtual technologies

Teaching

Undergraduate

First Year

• Architectural Humanities 1 - Architecture in Settlements & Cities - Module Coordinator

Second Year

• Architectural Humanities 2 - Art, Architecture & Heritage: Exchange & Enquiries - Module Coordinator

Third Year

• Architectural Humanities 3 - Architects in context: Research-led enquiries into architects, culture and practice - Module Coordinator

External activities

Memberships

• Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
• Fellow, Royal Society of Arts, RSA
• Fellow, Higher Education Academy, HEA
• Affiliate Member, Royal Institute of British Architects, RIBA
• Chartered Member, Society of Egyptian Architects, SEA
• Member; Society of Architectural Historian of Great Britain, SAHGB
• Member; Middle Eastern Studies Association, MESA

Other Roles

• Advisory Council, International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments, Based at University of California at Berkeley, US. (2020 - present)  
• Non-Exec Director, Home Renaissance Foundation, London-Based Think Tank.
• Advisory Board, Farouk ElBaz Centre for Sustainability and Future Studies, The British University in Egypt, 2015-Present
• Advisory Board Member, International society of Virtual Systems and Multimedia, Berkeley, US. (2017 - 2020)
• Founding Partners and Director, Southgate Sarabia Architects Collaborative

Invited talks and conferences

• “Legacies of Art, Architecture and Culture in Historic Mosul: A story of resistance and resilience in the context of adversity”. Islamic Art Circle Lecture Series. School of Oriental and Asian Studies, University of London. London, UK, 24th April 2024.
• “Virtual Heritage Futures: Navigating Virtual Technologies, Creative Industries and AI for Cultural Heritage in the UK and China”, National Chinese Museums Directors Forum. Beijing: Communications University of China (CUC), 12th May 2023.
• “Humanitarian Heritage: A community-centred approach towards heritage regeneration for sustainable livelihoods and socio-cultural engagement”, Regeneration of Arts and Crafts- Environmental Sustainability Seminar. Cultural Heritage for Inclusive Growth Project- CH4IG. Rome: ICCROM and British Council, 16th Jan 2023.
• “Future Legacies of the Past: The reincarnation of historic cities in the virtual clouds to shape our urban futures”, Urban Heritage Futures: Reimagination for Regeneration. FA Lecture Series, Faculty of Architecture, CEPT University, 9th Nov 2022
• “Post-COVID Homes and Family Dynamics: Investigating evolving Socio-Spatial Dynamics of Family Living and Care for Older People in the 21st Century”, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA); Expert Group Meeting in Preparation for the 30th Anniversary of the International Year of the Family, Cairo, Egypt, 2nd June 2022,
• “Hearing the silence of Old Mosul: Uncovering disappearing spaces and sounds of culture and tradition of a historic Iraqi city”, Public Talk for the British Museum’s ‘Ancient Iraq: New Discovery’ Exhibition, Lakeside Arts Museum, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK, 12th May 2022.
• “Hawara: from Ancient to Futuristic Marvel of Global Tourism; The International Seminar and Exhibition, “Hawara – From Ancient Marvel of the Middle Kingdom to the Future of Tourism in Egypt”, Grant Nile Tower Hotel, Cairo, Egypt, 28th March 2022
• “Transformative Impacts of Virtual Heritage Technology on Remote Heritage Sites in Africa: The Case of the Hawara Pyramid and Labyrinth in Fayoum, Egypt”. Tourism and World Heritage Sites in Africa: Challenges and Perspectives”. 12th Seminar of the UNESCO Chair, ‘Culture, Tourism and Development’, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, Paris, France, 30th Nov. 2021
• “HeritaegCAVE: Cloud-based Intelligence in Cultural Heritage”, China University Museums Alliance conference, Communication University of China, Beijing, 3rd Dec 2021. Beijing, China
• “Touching the Untouchable in Global Heritage: From Hawara Pyramid in Egypt to Nottingham Castle, UK”, The Living Digital Heritage Conference, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, 5th Nov 2021.
• “Virtual Heritage Technologies and Building diaries: Bridging space and time in the radical transformation of heritage preservation in the 21st Century”. The MONFORTE Winter Solstice Seminar on Heritage Intervention, on December 13th 2021. The IC - Institute of Construction and FEUP - Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, Portugal
• “How can digital technology support cultural heritage? Debating theoretical dispositions, practical challenges and policy implications”. Heritage and our Sustainable Future Conference, UNESCO-UK, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK, 26th Feb 202.
• “Virtual Museums of the Future: HeritaegCAVE and Building Cloud-based Interactive Platforms for Global Museums”, China-British Universities Museum Alliance conference, Communication University of China, Beijing, Beijing, China, 27th Nov 2020.
• “The Sustainability of Heritage: Integrating Smart Management of Cultural Heritage into the Sustainable and Creative Economy of the 21st Century city.” Proceedings of the International Conference on Sustainable Mega Projects: Chance, Change, Challenge, The British University in Egypt, Cairo, Egypt, 3rd May 2016.