Hisham N. Ashkouri (, born August 15, 1948) is a

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

-based

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 ...

and urban designer.

Early life

Ashkouri was born on August 15, 1948, in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. He graduated first in class in 1970 with a Bachelor of Architecture Degree from the

University of Baghdad The University of Baghdad (UOB) (, also known as Baghdad University) is a public university, public research university in Baghdad, Iraq. It is the largest university in Iraq and the tenth largest in the Arab world. History The College of Isl ...

and continued for his Masters of Architecture at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

under the late

Louis I. Kahn Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky; – March 17, 1974) was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. Whil ...

in 1973. He further completed his Urban Design studies at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and

M.I.T. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sci ...

with Masters in Urban Design in 1975. Ashkouri completed his Doctoral work in Ergonomics at

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

in 1983. Ashkouri worked with Hisham Munir and Associates in Iraq before coming to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He then worked at

The Architects Collaborative The Architects Collaborative (TAC) was an American architectural firm formed by eight architects that operated between 1945 and 1995 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The founding members were Norman C. Fletcher (1917–2007), Jean B. Fletcher (19 ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, contributing to the Arlington Hadassah Way and the Westin Hotel at Copley Place, both in Boston, as well as the

Campus Expansion, before establishing ARCADD, Inc. in 1986 as an independent architect and urban designer. Ashkouri has initiated several international developments mainly in Iraq and Afghanistan including the Baghdad Renaissance Plan, $13 billion, the Tahrir Square Development, $860 million, the Sindbad Hotel Complex and Conference Center, $35 billion, the City of Light Development, Kabul, $9.6 billion and the Afghan National Museum, Library and Cultural Center, $247 million, both for the reconstruction of Kabul. Ashkouri is currently working on developments in the United States.

National work

Ashkouri is the architect and developer of the Cold Spring Green townhouse development in Newton, MA - a modern, open-concept design integrating green energy systems. Ashkouri established the standard specifications for branches of the

U.S. Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...

. He contributed to the Pediatrics floors of the

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is a teaching hospital located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the original and largest clinical education and research facility of Harvard Medical School/Harvar ...

in Boston, and has also performed restoration and renovation work on many public and municipal buildings throughout New England. While working for The Architects' Collaborative in 1974, Ashkouri led the

urban planning Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...

and design effort for the conceptual plan for the expansion of the Capitol Center for the City of

Tallahassee, FL Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...

, and in 1983 was the architect for the interior spaces, conference center, and guest rooms of the Westin Hotel at

Copley Place Copley Place is a mixed-use complex of four office buildings, two hotels, and a shopping mall in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Construction began in 1980, which required air rights over the Massachusetts Tu ...

in Boston, MA.

International work

Ashkouri's designs abroad include: *

Campus Expansion (with TAC) * Sindbad Hotel Complex and Conference Center, Baghdad, Iraq * Baghdad Renaissance Plan,

, Iraq * Tahrir Square Development, Baghdad, Iraq * City of Light Development,

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

, Afghanistan * Afghan National Museum, Kabul, Afghanistan *Area 5 and Area 9 Parking Structures, Kuwait City, Kuwait *Regatta Mediterranean Resort, Tripoli, Libya *Noorland - a Green, New City Development, Kazan, Tatarstan, Russian Federation Ashkouri has developed city-scale reconstruction and infrastructure plans for war-torn countries such as

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

through his architecture firm ARCADD, Inc. He has garnered support for a number of these developments through private sector investment, and he has received insurance support from the

Overseas Private Investment Corporation The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) was the United States Government's Development finance institution until it merged with the Development Credit Authority (DCA) of the United States Agency for International Development (U ...

(OPIC) for these projects. He has worked on promoting US-made products for these developments with the

US Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business and governmental decision making, establishing industrial standards, catalyzing econo ...

. Ashkouri has supported private investment in Kabul jointly with the Embassy of Afghanistan in the U.S.

Competitions

His first winning design competition entry was for the Government of Iraq in 1972 while working with Hisham Munir and Associates for the “First Oil Compound to be built for the Nation”, the Ministry of Oil and Minerals. Other national competitions awarded were for the Baghdad City Hall, the College of Agriculture at Sulimaniyah, and the Ministry of Justice. He was also declared the winner of the design competition for the Baghdad Opera House, but that award was rescinded when the government of Iraq realized he was in the United States. He won the International Design Competition for the UAE Public Library and Cultural Center, the Killington Skiing Village Complex Design Competition for

Killington, Vermont Killington is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,407 at the 2020 census. Killington Ski Resort and numerous vacation lodges are located here. The town was previously named Sherburne, but was renamed to its o ...

, the competition for the Kansai-Khan Library in Tokyo, Japan, and the design competition for the Playground For All Children in

Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Flushing may refer to: Places Netherlands * Flushing, Netherlands, an English name for the city of Vlissingen, Netherlands United Kingdom * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in Cornwall, England * The Flushing, a building in Suffolk, Englan ...

Queens, New York Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, the first such play area for both able-bodied and disabled children.

References

External links