​Sahel Alhiyari is the owner and principal architect at Office of Sahel Alhiyari for Architecture. He holds Bachelor Degrees in Architecture and Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design, and a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He carried out post-graduate work at the School of Architecture at the University of Venice, where he also taught from 1993-1995. In addition, his teaching activities include design studios “Arch Lab" organized by the Centre for the Study of the Built Environment (CSBE) in collaboration with the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2002 and 2004, as well as an option studio at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design (fall 2010), and a vertical design studio at the American University of Beirut (fall 2011). He has lectured at Columbia University, Physical Development Research Centre in Iran, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Harvard University, the American University of Beirut and ETH Zurich. His work has been published internationally, as well as exhibited in Italy at the “Biennale de Architectura 2021" and in Qatar at the “Arab Design Now 2024 – Qatar Museums", in Jordan at “The Khalid Shoman Foundation" and in New York at “The Center of Architecture". In 2002, Alhiyari was chosen as the first architect to receive the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, according to which he has been a protégé of architect Álvaro Siza of Portugal. In 2025, he received the Great Arab Minds Award in Architecture and Design, which honors six outstanding individuals in the Arab world across various fields each year. He has served as a reviewer and a member of the Master Jury for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Additionally, he is a painter and has exhibited in Jordan, Lebanon and Italy.

 www.sahelalhiyari.com

GAM Award Recipients | Great Arab Minds​​