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Professor of Architecture and SARChI: DST/NRF/SACN Research Chair in Spatial Transformation (Positive Change in the Built Environment), Tshwane University of Technology

Amira Omer Siddig Osman is a Sudanese/South African architect/lecturer/researcher. She is currently a professor of architecture at the Tshwane University of Technology and the SARChI: DST/NRF/SACN Research Chair in Spatial Transformation (Positive Change in the Built Environment).

Amira studied at the University of Khartoum in Sudan in 1988 (B.Sc.) and 1996 (M.Sc.). In between the two she obtained a post-graduate diploma at the Institute for Housing Studies in Rotterdam (IHS) in 1992. She completed her PhD in Architecture at the University of Pretoria in 2004.

She worked as an architect in Khartoum during the period 1988-1997 with various practices on small and large projects and was a United Nations Volunteer (UNV) in Maseru, Lesotho 1997-1998, as an architect with the Department of Public Works. She practised as an architect in Sudan and has participated in a number of projects in South Africa including a hostel upgrade and designs for social housing in Pretoria. Amira is a registered Professional Architect with the South African Council for the Architectural Profession (SACAP) and while her focus is academic and research-oriented, she continues to practice on a small scale.

Amira taught at a number of institutions for almost 30 years, including over 11 years at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. She established the Housing and Urban Environments (HUE_UP) research field at the University of Pretoria and coordinated it until her departure in 2010; she went on to develop the same programme at the University of Johannesburg as well as establish a research and academic UJ-UNIT 2 “Architecture and Agency: DESIGN | MAKE | TRANSFORM” in 2015. She has taught Housing and Urban Policy at UJ and currently runs the Master's programme at TUT. She has previously worked as a Senior Researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria (2010-2012).

Amira was one of the conference conveners for the World Congress on Housing in 2005 at the University of Pretoria and the convenor of the Sustainable Human(e) Settlements: the urban challenge, 2012, hosted by FADA, University of Johannesburg and its partners. She also served as UIA 2014 Durban General Reporter for the International Union of Architects (UIA) and the South African Institute of Architects (SAIA). She is joint coordinator for the international CIB W104 Open Building Implementation group.

Experience

  • 2017–present
    Professor, Tshwane University of Technology

Education

  • 2004 
    University of Pretoria , PhD Architecture

Grants and Contracts

  • 2014
    Role:
    Associate Professor in Architecture
    Funding Source:
    National Research Foundation