We are delighted to share that Sarah Saad Alajmi, a doctoral candidate in History and Theory of Architecture, has recently been honored with a Graham Foundation 2024 Carter Manny Research Award Citation of Special Recognition for her dissertation "Between Nomadism and Settlement: The Architectural Transformation of the Arabian Desert, 1940s–1970s." Analyzing the creation of modern desert landscapes in relation to the establishment of the modern state and the oil industry in the twentieth century, her dissertation illuminates the tension between the forces of modernization and the tribespeople of Arabia, the Badu, and their nomadic structures and movements across national borders. The dissertation explores how modern architecture and experimental farms were employed to sedentarize the nomadic tribes.
Established in 1996, the Carter Manny Award supports the completion of outstanding doctoral dissertations on architecture and its role in the arts, culture, and society. The only predoctoral award dedicated exclusively to architectural scholarship, it recognizes emerging scholars whose work promises to challenge and reshape contemporary discourse and impact the field at large. The Carter Manny is administered by the Graham Foundation in Chicago.
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