GHOSTLY ARCHITECTURE Confronting The Edge Between The Living and The Dead “Emotions are not fixed. They do not begin at a boundary of a space, nor end at one. They overlap, fluctuate, and coexist, moving through everyday life, often without notice.” This excerpt is taken from a manifesto l wrote that became the theoretical foundation of the project. The project is heavily theory-based. It does not operate through a conventional program, but through a theoretical purpose, driven purely by architecture. It proposes a new edge condition between the living and the dead at the boundary of Al-Salhiya Cemetery, specifically along the edge closest to Al-Salhiya Complex. Today, the cemetery is defined by a single enclosing wall that separates it from its intensely hedonic surroundings. Rather than reinforcing this condition of isolation, the project proposes an alternative edge that confronts it directly. The architecture becomes a mediator, communicating the emotional shifts of bereavement as part of everyday life rather than concealing or isolating them. It challenges the notion that grief belongs only within the confines of the cemetery, instead positioning it as an emotion that overlaps with, and exists alongside, everyday life.
Site Investigation Animation Architectural Design Graduation | 2025/2026 Dr. Bader AlBader | Arch. Dana AlHassan Best Graduation Project 2026
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01: Collage Showcasing The Existing Edge Condition 02: Diagram of Design Proposal 03, 04, 05: Diagram of Entrances, Longing, Reflection 06, 07, 08: Stills the inside of the Salhiya Cemetery and The Outside Edge 09: Axonometric Building Typologies
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10, 11, 12: Close Ups of the Ground Floor Plan 13: Ground Floor Plan
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14: A Manual Sectional Perspective Across Three 75 x 110 cm Sheets 15, 16, 17: Close Ups of The Manual Sectional Perspective
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18: A Manual Drawing of Reflection 19: A Manual Drawing of Longing
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20: 3D Printed Sectional Physical Model of Reflection 21: 3D Printed Sectional Physical Model of Longing 22, 23: Models Interlocking Together
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ESSENCE OF SALT Decentralizing Water Sourcing and Treatment: Live Work Unit The project begins by creating a closed loop water system to achieve a more sustainable building. Located in Kuwait City, in front of Dasman Complex, the design explores the byproducts of this system, focusing on edible and non edible salt. The use of non edible salt responds to the environmental impact of desalination, which releases concentrated brine back into the sea, threatening marine life. By reusing this byproduct, the proposal transforms waste into material. The salt acts as a natural insulator that helps dry humid air and cool hot air, which is especially relevant near the coast. Salt marshes throughout the building store the saline water produced by desalination and connect visually to the central pond. The cladding also follows a living cycle, as salt panels crystallize, weather, and are redipped to renew their surface. This continuous transformation reflects the project’s theme of regeneration and material reuse, centered around a strong structural core where visitors and workers meet among crystallized salt panels.
Architectural Design Studio VI | Spring 2024/2025 Dr. Sulaiman AlOthman | Arch. Mohammed Khesroh
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24: Water System Diagram Research 25: Parametric Massing Model 26: Water Ponds Diagram 27: Vertical Circulation Diagram 28: Structure Diagram
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29: Elevation Program Diagram 30: First Floor Plan 31: Ground Floor Plan
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32: Section B-B 33: Section A-A
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34: Detailed Fragment 35, 36, 37, 38: Close Up Fragment
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39: Research: Crystallizing Wooden Panels 40, 41: Physical Model Close Up 42: Physical Model: Concrete Base, MDF, Wooden Sticks, Salt Coating
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43: Exterior Close Up Render 44, 45: Interior Renders
THE FORM FABRIC Material Lab: A Cultural Experience Through Kuwait City The project begins by studying different local material to research and develop a construction technique from. The chosen material was limestone brick, examined through its behavior, potential, and weaknesses. The design exploration was driven with a personal question: how can a building’s walls stand without relying on traditional masonry? This curiosity led to studying the work of Kengo Kuma and his methods of connecting one stones to another through precise joint systems. Adopting this idea, the design introduces steel sheets inserted between each limestone brick, creating a structural connection that replaces mortar and allow parts of the building to be assembled and disassembled. The result, a Cultural Center in Qibla, Kuwait City, demonstrates how architecture can merge craft and logic through a structure built from interlocking pieces that can be taken apart without damaging the stone. This approach preserves Kuwait’s limited limestone resources and promotes reuse and material longevity.
Architectural Design Studio IV | Spring 2023/2024 Dr. Aminah AlKanderi | Arch. Mohammed Khesroh Nominated for KASA Expo 2025
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46, 47, 48, 49: Building Iteration Diagram 50: Site Plan
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51: Ground Floor Plan 52: First Floor Plan
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53: New Baraha Vs. Old Courtyard Buildings in Kuwait Inspired by Yousif AlHaroun 54: The Method of Joining Inspired By Kengo Kuma 55: Sectional Perspective A-A 56: Sectional Perspective B-B
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57, 58: Physical Model: Part Massing, Part Section
SEQUENCED FORMALITIES The Object and The Island: Live Work Unit The project explores the transformation of Casa Sperimentale, designed by Guiseppe Perugini, Uga De Plaisant, and Raynaldo Perugini, into a live work unit for a set designer located on the pond at the The Green Island, Kuwait. Rather than replicating the original design, the project process follows a set of self-imposed architectural rules that guided every decision from start to finish, emphasizing on consistency and logic. By transgressing and reinterpreting the original plan as a diagram, a new form is developed through these principles, leading to a spatialized structure where function takes place. The final piece acts as a study of form, an architectural object shaped by its own logic.
Architectural Design Studio III | Fall 2023/2024 Dr. Jawad AlTabtabai | Arch. Mohammed Khesroh Nominated for KASA Expo 2025
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59: 2D Transgression Process 60: Original Floor Plan 61, 62 , 63: Turned 2D Diagram into 3D form
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04: Final Diagram
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65: Site Plan 66: Physical Stick Model 67: 3D Form Above Its 2D Diagram
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68: Underground Floor Plan 69: Ground Floor Plan 70: First Floor Plan 71: Second Floor Plan 72: Longitudinal Sectional Perspective
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73: Axonometric Cut 74: Structural Diagram