Dr Mohammad Najjar

Jordan's Landscapes Tours

Dr Rami Daher

Dr Rami Farouk Daher was born in Amman in 1965, attending the Islamic Scientific College and graduating in 1983. He obtained a BSc in Architectural Engineering from the University of Jordan in 1988, a Masters of Architecture from the University of Minnesota in 1991, and a PhD in Architecture from the University of Texas A & M in 1995. Dr Daher obtained a Certificate in Heritage Conservation from that same university in 1995. In addition, Daher also conducted post-doc research at the University of California, Berkeley in 2001.

He subsequently worked in academia in Jordan, Lebanon and the U.S. Between 1996 and the present, he was head of the Architectural Engineering Division at the Jordan University of Science and Technology. He then took up a position as an Associate Professor at the American University of Beirut in 2007, followed by a position as an Associate Professor at the German-Jordanian University, which he continues to hold.

In 1999 he established in Amman the office of TURATH: Architecture & Urban Design Consultants, whose main projects in Amman are: the regeneration and development of Rainbow Street, Wakalat Street, Rainbow Cinema, Feisal Plaza in the city centre, the adaptive reuse of the Electricity Hangar in Ras al Ain including the new addition of Ras al Ain Gallery, as well as many other urban heritage studies. He also worked on the Abu Jaber House Museum in Salt and the development and design of the Visitor Centre in the village of Um Qais. In addition, there are many special urban development projects also in Ajlun, Jarash and Salt in Jordan, as well as in Bahrain, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Syria and France. Daher is also well-published in research journals and with the popular press.

Dr Shaher er-Rababah

Building Construction and Conservation Expert, Architectural Historian, Archaeologist, Author

Department of Architecture, Chairman
Department of Engineering Projects, Director
Department of Conservation Sciences, Member
Faculty of Engineering, The Hashemite University
P.O. Box 150459, Zerqa, Jordan.

Shaher Rababeh, the author of How Petra was Built, is an associate professor of architecture, the head of the Department of Architecture, and the director of the Department of Engineering Projects at the Hashemite University, Jordan, as well as a member of its Department of Conservation Sciences. He received his BSc in Architectural Engineering from Yarmouk University in 1987. From the University of Oxford he was awarded his MSt in Classical Architecture and DPhil. in Architectural Construction Techniques and Methods of Design, in 2005. His interests include architectural history, construction methods and technology, architectural design and building conservation. His work has covered many major monuments in Jordan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia, ranging from Petra and Gerasa, Bosra and Medain Saleh, the Desert Palaces, to modern buildings.

As a result of his combination of academic qualifications, knowledge, experience, and skills he is making a unique contribution to researching and teaching architecture in Jordan. His experience as a practicing architect has given him firsthand knowledge of using the construction materials naturally available in Jordan. He has then applied this to his study of Nabataean construction techniques, discovering and demonstrating how the Nabataeans worked with these to develop their own construction techniques. He has applied this same knowledge to study modern Jordanian architecture, and how identity is expressed in both its ancient and modern forms.

Rababeh's focus on buildings involves architectural aspects, such as analyzing how space is used and how this changed with time. His interests are focused on the symbolism of the building and its connection with both the architectural design and the construction techniques used to create spectacular architectural achievements. These include analysis of the structural system employed and the way the building site was organized for large structures. He looks at particular building methods relating to materials and techniques that were developed to allow the builders to construct larger and more complex structures. He then relates these techniques to the social and economic contexts in which they occur and explores how these changes over time; from the earliest buildings to the present. His examination of building techniques also demonstrates how the building industry worked, taking into account the availability of the building materials. He has also collaborated with scholars from other disciplines, such as geology, which provides information about the availability of building materials, how this affects earthquake damage.