Meet the Author
Wesam Al Asali
Wesam Al Asali (Syrian/ Spain) is an architect and researcher specializing in building crafts and construction technology. He is an Assistant Professor and Director of Materials and Methods at IE School of Architecture and Design. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in 2021 and was a Global Fung Fellow at Princeton University (2021–2022) before joining IE University. Wesam’s work explores the histories and applications of scarcity-driven experimentation in vernacular, indigenous, and local construction methods. In practice, he engages with heritage knowledge to develop environmentally sensitive designs. In 2010, he co-founded IWlab, a research hub investigating Syrian ecologies of making and dwelling. In 2020, he co-founded CERCAA, a social enterprise based in Valencia, Spain, dedicated to training architects in local building crafts across Spain and the Middle East. His research and practice have earned multiple awards, including the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) President’s Medal for Research (2021), Clare Hall’s Salje Award for best PhD thesis (2022), and the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians’ Founders’ Award (2022). In 2024, he was named a DigitalFutures awardee for the Middle East, and IWlab received the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture.
