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AlBader, Algargoosh Receive Doctoral Studies Awards

Two Taubman College students pursuing Ph.Ds in architecture were recognized for excellence earlier this month.

Bader AlBader received the Doctoral Student Award in Architecture, which is selected by the architecture doctoral faculty and is based on scholarly performance, teaching, and service to the college, university, and/or the larger discipline. 

AlBader is a Kuwaiti architect specializing in design studies. He is interested in understanding the ideologies, discourses, and institutions that produce design conducive of societal and political ends, especially through an examination of the socio-spatial conditions of universities. Studying these spaces allows him to explore, amongst other things, the role of socio-politically-driven design that gives material form to the abstract notion of higher education. His doctoral research pursues the question of how the compact between university and society may be informed by the design of these environments. By highlighting the intersections between higher education, architecture, and urbanism, he hopes to advance the study of an architecturally mediated relationship between citizen and state. 

Alaa Algargoosh received the ARCC King Student Medal for her doctoral dissertation-in-progress, “Aural Architecture: Understanding the Impact of Acoustics on Human Experience.” The Architectural Research Centers Consortium (ARCC) awards the ARCC/King Student Medal for Excellence in Architectural + Environmental Design Research to one student from each ARCC member institution, based on the nomination from the institution. Taubman College’s nominee is selected by the faculty and the architecture program chair based on the criteria of innovation, integrity, and scholarship in architectural and/or environmental design research. 

Algargoosh’s dissertation-in-progress advances the science of architectural acoustics through precise measurement of the impact of acoustical environments, especially in religious structures like mosques, on the total architectural experience. In particular, the dissertation measures the acoustical qualities of several Detroit mosques and churches to better understand the psychological role of acoustics both in the creation of a spiritual space and the fostering of community. Although the dissertation research is still in progress, Algargoosh has already been chosen by the MIT Technology Review for its MENA Award as one of the “innovators under 35 who will shape the future.”