As the new academic year begins, the Weitzman School of Design is pleased to welcome the latest cohort of students to our PhD/MS in Architecture programs. Coming from diverse backgrounds, these students bring a range of interests and expertise that will enrich our academic community. Please join us in welcoming Adrian Fernandez, Nour Jafar, Eda Begum Birol, Sophia Chen and Sarah AlQahtani as they embark on this exciting journey with us.
Adrian Fernandez (he/him) is a PhD student in history and theory at the Weitzman School of Design. His research explores demolition, ruin and displacement as deliberate acts of spatial violence, focusing on their weaponization in India by the ruling party against Muslim lifeworlds, as part of their larger project to replace secularity as central to India's identity with an oppressive form of Hindu nationalism. Adrian has taught at several universities in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia, worked as an architect, written for several architectural publications and was a curator of Process, a monthly architecture talk series in Naarm.
Nour is a PhD student in the History and Theory of Architecture program at the Weitzman School of Design. Prior to pursuing a PhD, Nour spent several years between Kuwait and Chicago practicing at corporate architecture firms. She has taught theory of architecture and urban planning courses at Kuwait University and the University of Pennsylvania, where she has also given guest lectures regarding Kuwait’s master planning development, focusing primarily on heritage protection, transportation, and gentrification. In 2023, Nour was invited to contribute her research at the Venice Biennale, and in 2025, she was invited back as the Assistant Curator for the Kuwait Pavilion. Nour’s research focuses on Modern architecture, postcolonialism, and sociopolitical implications on the built environment, recently winning Docomomo US’s Modernism in America Award in 2024 for her work on Philadelphia’s Roundhouse.
Eda Begum Birol is a PhD student in architectural technology in the Stuart Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania. Begum's past and current research explore the intersection of architectural materiality in the age of digital fabrication. Begum works across clay, and earthen materials, and natural biomaterials. Begum holds a B.Arch. in Architecture and MSc. in Matter Design Computation from Cornell University, and an MSc. In Civil and Systems Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Begum is deeply interested in investigating ways in which craft, digital fabrication and computational design intersect to reinvigorate the role earthen materials and biomaterials in the design practice.
Sophia Chen joined the Ph.D in Architecture program in 2025. Her research mainly focuses on the intersection between structural engineering and environmental architectural design. In particular, she believes that studying temporal, biodegradable materials can lead to a safer and healthier built environment.
Previously, Sophia worked at Dumo Lab as a research assistant studying 3D printing of mycelium as an alternative construction material. Sophia currently holds an M.Arch, a M.S. in Civil Engineering, and a B.A. in Mathematics.
I have a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Kuwait University 2018. I am working at the public authority of housing welfare in Kuwait. I have an experience as a teacher assistant in Kuwait University for the past two years in teaching structure and Bim courses. My research will be focusing on how to enhance the built environment of Kuwait housing projects using latest technological advancement of AI.
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