Nadi Abusaada

Nadi Abusaada (PhD) is an architect, urbanist and a historian. He is currently an Aga Khan Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Nadi completed his Ph.D. and M.Phil. degrees at the University of Cambridge and his B.A. (Hons) at the University of Toronto. Nadi is also the co-founder of Arab Urbanism, a global network dedicated to historical and contemporary urban issues in the Arab region. His writings have been featured in a number of international publications including The Architectural Review, The International Journal of Islamic Architecture, and the Jerusalem Quarterly among others.

Selected Publications

Edited Journals

Abusaada, Nadi. and Asali, Wesam., eds, Scroope: The Cambridge Architectural Journal, Department of Architecture: University of Cambridge, 29 (2020). Available at: <https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/316127>

Journal Articles

Abusaada, Nadi. "Consolidating the Rule of Experts: A Model Village for Refugees in the Jordan Valley, 1945‐55." International Journal of Islamic Architecture 10, no. 2 (2021): 361-385. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/ijia_00048_1.

Abusaada, Nadi. "Combined Action: Aerial Imagery and the Urban Landscape in Interwar Palestine, 1918–40." Palestine From Above [Special issue]. Jerusalem Quarterly, no. 81 (2020): 20-36. <https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1650011>. ISSN 2521-974X.

Abusaada, Nadi. "Self-Portrait of a Nation: The Arab Exhibition in Mandate Jerusalem, 1931-34." Jerusalem Quarterly, no. 77 (2019): 122-35. <https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/235369>. ISSN 2521-974X. Winner of 2019 Ibrahim Dakkak Annual Award for Outstanding Essay on Jerusalem. 

Book Chapters

Abusaada, Nadi. "Urban Encounters: Imaging the City in Mandate Palestine." In: K. Sanchez and S. Zananiri, eds., Imaging and Imagining Palestine: Photography, Modernity and the Biblical Lens 1918-1948. (Netherlands: Brill, 2021). https://brill.com/view/title/55370

Magazines, Reviews, and Digital Publications

Abusaada, Nadi., 2022. Jerusalem Stone: The History and Identity of Palestinian Stereotomy. Stone [Special Issue]. Architectural Review, (1490), pp.30-37. Available at: <https://www.architectural-review.com/digital-edition/april-2022-stone>.

Abusaada, Nadi., 2022. Two Cities Across the Bay: Haifa and Akka's Entangled Histories. [online] Palestine Square. Available at: <https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1652600>.

Abusaada, Nadi., 2021. Under Jerusalem. Underground [Special Issue]. Architectural Review, (1480), pp.74-77. Available at: <https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/under-jerusalem-israels-subterranean-expansion>.

Abusaada, Nadi., 2021. Palestine's Garden Walls. Garden [Special Issue]. Architectural Review, (1478), pp.90-93. Available at: <https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/palestines-garden-walls-the-deliberate-destruction-of-palestines-terraced-gardens>.

Asali, Wesam. and Abusaada, Nadi., ‘Editorial: Pulling the Emergency Break’, Scroope: The Cambridge Architectural Journal, 29 (2020), pp. 10-13. Available at: <https://www.arct.cam.ac.uk/downloads/scroope-29.pdf>.

Abusaada, Nadi., 2020. Invisible Terrains. Land [Special Issue]. Architectural Review, (1475), pp.36-38. Available at: <https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/city-portraits/invisible-terrains-jaffas-obscured-history>.

Abusaada, Nadi., 2020. Jaffa: The Rise and Fall of an Agrarian City [online] Palestine Square. Available at: <https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1650539>.

Abusaada, Nadi., 2020. Architecture as a System of Knowledge. Letters to a Young Architect [Special Issue]. Architectural Review, (1474), pp.40. Available at: <https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/letters-to-a-young-architect/nadi-abusaada-letter-to-a-young-architect>

Abusaada, N., 2020. Aerial Frontiers: The Colonial Gaze Over Palestine. Flights [Special Issue]. Kings Review, (6), pp.38-41. Available at: <https://www.underthecover.pt/product/kings-review-flights/>.

Abusaada, Nadi. and Wahby, Noura. 2020. Editorial Letter. Arab Urbanism Magazine. [online]. Available at: <https://www.araburbanism.com/magazine/editors-welcome-1-en>.

Abusaada, Nadi., 2020. “Off the Record”: Palestine At The 1944 Arab League Preparatory Conference. [online] Palestine Square. Available at: <https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1650226>.

Abusaada, Nadi., 2020. The Palace Hotel in Jerusalem: History Beyond Memory. [online] Palestine Square. Available at: <https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1650028>.