

Thank You, Urban Realm
I am delighted to thank Urban Realm for publishing my article, Rebuilding Without Erasing, which they boldly retitled Ghost Buildings. It is a real honour to feature in one of Scotland's leading publications covering architecture, design and the built environment. The article explores a question that architecture rarely asks: what should we do with buildings that have been used for violence? We are familiar with rebuilding homes, restoring infrastructure and repairing heritag


Rebuilding Without Erasing: Why Adaptive Re-use Matters After War
If you are working on the reconstruction of Ukraine, Gaza, Syria, Sudan, or any city emerging from conflict, there is a familiar set of questions: How quickly can we rebuild? What should be prioritised? Which structures are beyond repair? These are necessary questions. But there is another question that rarely appears in planning frameworks or design briefs: What should we do with buildings that remember violence? The buildings that don’t fit Post-conflict reconstruction tend


A Civilisation Does Not Die in a Night
Image: IDP Camp 2017 Iraq. by Frazer Macdonald Hay Click here for Arabic Text Much has already been said in response to recent political rhetoric about the destruction of civilisations. Most of it is immediate, reactive, and quickly absorbed into an already saturated discourse.This piece takes a different position, grounded not in reaction, but in the experience of what happens when cities are destroyed, cultures are targeted, and people are left to rebuild what remains. When


Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan: What Post-War Cities Must Learn About Memory
Ukrainian / Arabic Text Rebuilding After War: What Buildings Remember If you are planning the reconstruction of Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Syria (or any city emerging from war) there is a question that rarely appears in engineering briefs, donor frameworks, or architectural masterplans: What do the buildings remember? After conflict, the world mobilises to rebuild walls, roads, schools, and monuments. We measure recovery in square metres restored and skylines repaired. Yet in eve


Local Recognition and the ringing of UNESCO Bells in Iraq
After the last major battle for Mosul and whilst pockets of ISIS were still active in the city, I began searching for sites of civil...


















