A spectrum of color guides this portfolio, mapping inner dialogues, shared terrains, and personal transformations. These four eye icons act as witnesses to moments of presence, otherness, questioning, and challenge. The projects oscillate between the self and the collective, converging into a visual rhythm of becoming. Look for moments of seeing.
A meditation on roots and rupture. This project traces the erased footprints of Al-Ashīsh - palm-frond dwellings that once cradled nomadic life in Kuwait through my grandmother’s recollections. Her voice, layered with dust storms and space finding, reveals how stateenforced concrete housing replaced fluidity with fixity in the bedouin context. Here, architecture becomes an act of recovery: highlighting a spatial reorganisation to reclaim autonomy, ecological awareness, and the right to inhabit impermanence. In a landscape where sameness multiplies and urban sprawl expands without reflection, architecture risks becoming inert stripped of cultural continuity and temporal depth. By re-engaging al-ashīsh, as a starting point this project seeks out alternative spatial strategies: quiet, improvised acts of resistance that allow people to inhabit space on their own terms.
A kinetic ode to land’s autonomy. Inspired by Japanese garden rakes and Theo Jansen’s wind-walkers, this intervention is a machine that listens. Its teeth etch temporary patterns into the dunes, only for the wind to erase them, a dialogue between human gesture and desert will. The atomic history of Tularosa Basin lingers in the silence, but the rake’s movements celebrate resilience. White Sands is not a backdrop; it is the author. Each visit rewrites the narrative, and the spectral white of the site bleeds into the drawings, reminding us that beauty lies in surrender.
The traces left by the rake fade, erased by the wind-swept white sands. Now, the agency of the basin takes over nature’s guiding hand in the architecture of transformation, shaping imprints that recalibrate cultural and historical narratives toward truth.
Highways slice through deserts, but who pauses? Reimagining gas stations and bus stops as “anti-nonplaces,” this project dissects the colonial myth of emptiness. Radial walls and towers disrupt the monotony of transit, forcing slowness into speed. Elevating the body to see more than their perceived notions of modes of traveling and belonging. Questioning: Can infrastructure foster connection in landscapes branded as voids? The answer emerges in elevated platforms stages for stillness and viewing where travelers confront the desert’s vastness and their own transient footprints.
TRANSITIONAL SITES [GAS STATIONS&BUS STOPS]
Locations adjacent to drivethroughs both gas stations and
A blend of movement and stillness, as individuals conduct over their mode of transportation.
A Mix Of Hurriedness And Convenience Characterizes The Experience.
Emphasis on speed due to high demand and individual control over vehicles
Experience appears slow despite fast-paced activities
Areas adjacent to bus stops and near vacant lots
Locations adjacent to gas sta-
Emphasis on speed due to high demand and individual control over vehicles
Experience appears slow despite fast-paced activi-
Landback as architectural praxis. Collaborating with the Tohono O’odham Nation, this research center embodies disassembly both physical and ideological. Wickiups inspire its form; ocotillo cladding and rainwater harvesting root it in Sonoran ecology. But the ochretoned core is its politics: a literal return of land in 2023. The project’s beams and columns are designed for reuse, mirroring Indigenous stewardship. Here, architecture is not just builtmit is unbuilt, challenging permanence as a colonial construct. The defiant gaze meets the viewer: Whose history do you stand on?
siteplan
Just as a butterfly transforms through its life cycle emerging in bloom, embodying nature’s beauty, so too does this project, designed for seamless assembly and disassembly.
STAINLESS COPING W/ DRIP EDGE
PARAPET SILL PLATE
AIR GAP
RIGID INSULATION
CAN’T STRIP
RIVER WASHED ROUND STONE BALLETS
TAPERED RIGID POLYISO INSULATION W/ STAGGERED JOINTS (5* MIN. THICKNESS AT BOTTOM SLOPE) FASTENED TO ROOF DECK
CLM STRUCTURE
BEAMS”18”24”/ 40’ SPAN
PLYWOOD SHEATHING
MOUNTING BRACKET
CLADDING CONNECTION
HORIZONTAL INTERIOR PLYWOOD WALL CLADDING
CONTROL LAYERS
AIR GAP
GYPSYM BOARD
RIGID INSULATION
OCOTILLO CLADDING
SILL PLATE
TEMPERED GLASS
STEEL MULLION
CONCRETE FOUNDATION
WATER PROFING LAYER
CONCRETE SLAB
RIGID INSULATION
FRENCH DRAIN
As Editor-in-Chief of CAPLA’s [ABouT] Journal 2025 edition, I collaborated on [ABouT] CHANGE - a studentdriven exploration of architectural transformation in the Southwest. This special issue, aligned with CAPLA’s Adaptive Futures Research & Innovation Track, features 14 projects including my investigations into The Birthplace of Tucson’s urban origins and Diwaniya cultural spaces. The journal is organized into three sections: Across Design showcasing studio work, Beyond Digression highlighting borderland experiments, and Through Discourse featuring interviews with practitioners like Léopold Lambert of The Funambulist magazine. Guided by professors Brendan Sullivan Shea and Noémie Despland-Lichert, our 30-member team framed “change in the Southwest” through themes of housing, climate adaptation and cultural preservation, captured poetically in Shea’s reference to Calexico’s “Mirador.”
Participated in an immersive workshop at Les Rencontres d’Arles, an international photography festival celebrated for showcasing diverse artistic expressions. Mentored by Bruno Boudjelal, a French-Algerian photographer known for his introspective approach to identity finding and uncovering, I engaged in field explorations, iterative editing, and collaborative critiques. This intensive experience culminated in a curated photo series that captured a deeply personal visual narrative, reinforcing my commitment to photography as a powerful means of creative and conceptual exploration.
Driven senior architecture student with strong conceptual design skills, technical drafting expertise, and a keen eye for functionality. Skilled at inclusive leadership and open communication, fostering collaboration and forward-thinking solutions. Maintains high academic standards and brings fresh perspectives to each project, ensuring a lasting impact in both studio and professional settings.
Education
BArch - College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture - University Of Arizona - 2020 - 2025
Contact Information mohalsaeidi@arizona.edu (1) 6467551637
language English & Arabic
Digital Modeling &Simulation
Rhino (3D Modeling) Revit Enscape Blender 3ds Max Lumion
FormIt (including Solar Analysis) Wufi Bluebeam Grasshopper
AI Tools
Adobe Firefly DALL·E Midjourney
Communication & Collaboration
Document Management
Public Speaking
Team Work
Volunteer Recruitment
Event Planning
Adobe
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Premiere
TUCSON - FALL 2024
Served as an editor and a member of the creative direction team, shaping the publication’s theme, tone, and central ideas. This edition empowered students to explore and narrate a collective story of change and departure from the external world, rooted in the transformative environment of the Sonoran Desert.
FRANCE - SUMMER 2024
Participated in an immersive workshop at Les Rencontres d’Arles, an international photography festival celebrated for showcasing diverse artistic expressions. Mentored by Bruno Boudjelal, a French-Algerian photographer known for his introspective approach to identity finding and uncovering, I engaged in field explorations, iterative editing, and collaborative critiques. This intensive experience culminated in a curated photo series that captured a deeply personal visual narrative, reinforcing my commitment to photography as a powerful means of creative and conceptual exploration.
KUWAIT & UK - SUMMER 2019
non-profit organization that develops programs and serves as an intermediary for community and social improvement. It assisted me in translating the assistance I required into change for others. Brainstorming, communicating, and nurturing human
KUWAIT - SUMMER 2024
Served as an architectural intern at a Kuwait-based architecture firm, immersing in the local design context and contributing to diverse projects including a chalet, a kindergarten, and residential interiors. Assisted with schematic and conceptual design phases, engaged in material exploration and sourcing, and supported a collaborative work environment to ensure streamlined project delivery.
