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Marwa Al-Saqqar
master of architecture

Manchester School of Architecture

Graduates: 2026

Specialisms: Architecture / Design for Social Good / Modelmaking

My location: Manchester, United Kingdom

marwa-al-saqqar ArtsThread Profile
Manchester School of Architecture

Marwa Al-Saqqar

marwa-al-saqqar ArtsThread Profile

First Name: Marwa

Last Name: Al-Saqqar

University / College: Manchester School of Architecture

Course / Program: master of architecture

Graduates: 2026

Specialisms: Architecture / Design for Social Good / Modelmaking

My Location: Manchester, United Kingdom

About

My interests lie in restorative futures and spatial justice within post-conflict contexts. I explore how displaced communities create and restore their identities through their relationship with space and memory. Grounded in intersectional research, focused on care and healing, my projects develop anti-colonial and regenerative architectural approaches aiming to support communities reclaim and reconnect with the built environment. I advocate for storytelling and indigenous knowledge systems, promoting slow/circular processes and cultural practices to foster spaces that promote coexistence with the land.
The realised scheme: speculating how the guidebook and toolkit would be incorporated into the domestic and urban fabric of Iraqi neighbourhoods.
A polyphony of stories: all community members involved are positioned as knowledge holders and active participants in the research process.
A polyphony of stories: all community members involved are positioned as knowledge holders and active participants in the research process.
the project's process revolves around ethnographic fieldwork to document experiences of domesticity.
"layered domesticity": a triptych illustrating the ethnographic research through storytelling, using allegorical drawings. it explores how memories and experiences of domesticity can be preserved, prioritised, and inform the design process.
The project aims, illustrated through atmospheric explorations.
"inhabiting the in-between": rather than depicting a utopia, this illustration captures a moment in time where developed systems from the realised scheme coexist with the existing concrete structures that populate the city.
the building system: consisting of permanent core elements (made of existing concrete blast walls) and flexible frames (made out of palm waste).
the building system: consisting of permanent core elements (made of existing concrete blast walls) and flexible frames (made out of palm waste).
Hosh + shanasheel + badgeer: adopting vernacular, passive principles for a climate-responsive design.
prototyping process to explore the right materiality, size, and design of the domestic taxonomy into elements for a plug-and-play system.
The taxonomy in pieces: modelling elements for a plug-and-play system that is continuously developed and reiterated for enhanced use.
the exhibition: The toolkit was presented as it would be provided for community members. it is packaged into a box with a guidebook that catalogues all the pieces with step-by-step visuals on how the toolkit can be used.
the thesis project as a living archive: it is driven by inscriptive practices and hands-on curation—developed through physical layering, collaging, mapping, and other forms of craft.

Humat Albayt - حماة البيت

Specialisms:

Architecture Design for Social Good Modelmaking

This project explores architecture’s role in post-conflict contexts by collaborating with Iraqi residents affected by the housing crisis. Through ethnographic fieldwork and allegorical drawings, it documents experiences of domesticity and develops a spatial justice toolkit that supports Iraqis in articulating their needs and reclaiming their spaces. Humat Albayt explores the role of architecture in post-conflict contexts—particularly in Iraq—by collaborating with displaced and neglected Baghdadi residents impacted by the housing crisis that is exacerbated by political instability, corruption, and the climate emergency. It applies ethnographic fieldwork to catalogue experiences of domesticity and employs allegorical drawings to prioritise memories and the intangible as means to develop a taxonomy of domestic elements and a guidebook that supports Iraqis in articulating their needs and reclaiming their spaces. Rather than a physical intervention, Humat Albayt serves as a spatial justice toolkit, exploring an alternative architectural process that engages in radical participatory methodologies to reshape the future of Iraq’s built environment towards a restorative one grounded in resilience, adaptability, and the sacred practices of making that define Iraq's rich tapestry.

Competitions
Global Creative Graduate Showcase 2026

Global Creative Graduate Showcase 2026