Shahira Hammad is an architect, artist, and exhibition designer based in Brooklyn, NY.
She received her Master’s degree in Architecture in 2012 from the University of Applied
Arts Vienna. Her works have been featured in exhibitions and publications that include
Olfactory Art Keller, Outsider Art Fair NY, Gypsum Gallery in Cairo, Künstlerhaus
Vienna, and Designboom, among others. In 2018, she co-created the Monarch
Sanctuary project during a research fellowship at Terreform ONE, featured in the
Nature—Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial. In addition to her independent practice, she
works at the renowned design firm Thinc in New York City.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I develop multisensory works that trigger emotional and sensory responses, connecting
people to themselves, others, and Nature. I blend the immaterial with the material,
weaving olfactory with visual, textural, and spatial components. The scents I create are
composed of natural essences, including tinctures from materials that I forage from
various environments. I create the physical, visual, and olfactory components in parallel,
through an interdependent, synesthetic development process. In my work, I seek to
understand our environments—what they are made of, what has been lost, and the
interconnectedness of all life forms.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Oct 19 - Dec 19 2024: GUI/GOOEY - Plexus Projects, Brooklyn, NY
https://www.plexusprojects.org/gui-gooey-2024
Oct 15 - Nov 27 2024: The Weight of Words Forming in the Mouth - NYSS Projects @ DUMBO 20 Jay Street, Suite 307, Brooklyn, NY 11201
https://www.sarahvaleriart.com/events-1/event-two-nc2jc
Sept 14 - Nov 2 2024: Poots - Citygroup, New York, NY
June 15 - Aug 5 2023: Minimal Scents - Olfactory Art Keller, New York, NY
https://www.olfactoryartkeller.com/exhibitions/minimal-scents
March 3 - March 4 2023: Art by Architects - Center for Architecture, New York, NY
Aug 1 - Aug 31 2017: ICARCH Architecture Festival - Hinterland Gallery, Vienna, Austria
May 22 - Sept 6, 2017: "Paper Trail" group show - Gypsum Gallery, Cairo
May 21, 2016 - July 2, 2016: Blueprints group exhibition - Chicago Industrial Arts & Design Center
21-24 January 2016: Outsider Art Fair - New York, NY
- "VERTUMNUS" tower selected and displayed at the curated space: BABEL - 3d Printed Metropolis. (3d printed by Voodoo Manufacturing in Brooklyn)
outsiderartfair.com/fair/1651/program
26 April -26 May 2013: Experimental Architecture Biennial Volume #1 - Prague, Czech Republic
- "Asemic Forest" thesis project displayed at the Excessive Studio (Hernan Diaz Alonso) section of the exhibition
eabiennial.com/volume1/
27 June–15 July 2012: The Essence 12 - Vienna Künstlerhaus, Austria
- Asemic Forest (M.Sc. thesis project) displayed at the annual die Angewandte exhibition (architecture section)
www.dieangewandte.at
March 5-12 / 2011: d3 Sketch Exhibition - Universidad de Monterrey, Mexico
- Sketches displayed at the opening exhibition, Sketch, for Tadao Ando’s lecture.
www.d3space.org/sketch/
EDUCATION
2012 - Master of Science (dist.) - Excessive Studio, Institute of Architecture, University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria
2008 - Bachelor's Degree in Architecture (hons.) - AAST, Alexandria, Egypt
AWARDS
2008
WA Awards, 20+10+X (World Architecture Community)
- First cycle winners
Marine Research Complex: Cited by the honorary members of WA.
(www.worldarchitecture.org)
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS/ PRESS
2017
Nature Studies
Asemic Forest and Other Natural Wonders by Architect Shahira Hammad
2016
Modelo
Asemic Forest - Westbahnhof Train Station
Marine Research Complex
2015
Pit, crit
Asemic Forest - Westbahnhof Train Station
Westbahnhof U-bahn
Marine Research Complex
2014
Asemic forest featured in Highlike Book (printed and launched in December 2014)
2013
Dichotomy Journal, Issue 19:UGLY
(University of Detroit Mercy, School of Architecture)
- Thesis project cited/featured in:
The Elephant Man Under Intensive Care: Aesthetics, Technology, & Architecture
The Hive Mind Magazine
Contributed and featured in issue 01 “Forgotton Landscapes”.
2012
evolo magazine
Asemic Forest - Spontaneous Order and Architecture
suckerpunch
Asemic Forest
designboom
Asemic Forest - Westbahnhof Train Station
arch2o
Asemic Forest - Westbahnhof Train Station
Westbahnhof U-bahn
Marine Research Complex
3d dreaming
Asemic Forest - Westbahnhof Train Station
anonymous.d
Asemic Forest - Westbahnhof Train Station
The Pop up City
Asemic Forest - The Decaying Decadence of Vienna’s New Train Station
Weburbanist
Asemic Forest - Urban Train Station Infiltrated by the Spontaneous Order of Nature
Futureplus
Asemic Forest - Westbahnhof Train Station
ASK Magazine (print)
Asemic Forest featured in December 2012 issue.
SUPER ARCHITECTS
Thesis Special - Asemic Forest - Westbahnhof Train Station
Localflux
Interview - Spontaniety and Afterthought