Maher Aakel · Architect specialising in computational design and environmental performance
From Damascus to Turin. 19 Years Across Design, Site, and Research.
19 years in practice across Syria, Lebanon, and Italy. MSc Architecture for Sustainable Design, Politecnico di Torino. Open to architecture roles across Europe.
Origin Story
Architect First. Computational Specialist Second.
"The tools changed. The intent did not: design buildings that work with their environment, not against it."
I started studying architecture in Damascus in 2001 and graduated in 2007. My early years in Syria spanned both design and site work. In Beirut I worked every stage of the $50M two-tower development (from design and permit drawings to execution drawings, site supervision, and handover) across nine years on site. In 2020 I moved to Turin for an MSc in Architecture for Sustainable Design at Politecnico di Torino, turning to computational research and competitions. My MSc thesis, where I focused on the parametric tool for automated building-envelope optimisation, was awarded Worthy of Mention by the Architecture Commission.
Across every city, what I bring to a team has stayed the same: site experience, computational precision, and the conviction that performance should be designed in, not added on.
Credentials
Experience and Recognition
Education
MSc Architecture for Sustainable Design
Politecnico di Torino, 2023
Thesis
"Synthesis automation of a biomimetic building envelope pattern through the life cycle phases."
27.8% energy efficiency improvement
Project Recognition
SKYHIVE International High-Rise Architecture Competition
Adaptive TRIO shortlisted, 2022–2023
Built Project
Luxury Residential High-Rise, Beirut
$50M two-tower development (28 and 20 floors), 30,000 m². Delivered on site, on budget. 9 years of continuous site supervision.
Practice
19 years in practice
Studied 2001–2007 in Damascus; 19 years in practice since, across Syria, Lebanon, and Italy. English · Arabic · Italian.
Principles
How I Think About Architecture
Environmental performance is a design decision, not a compliance exercise. A facade that performs well is not an add-on. It is the result of simulation that entered the project early enough to change what got built.
The most useful deliverable is not the one with the most data. It is the one the design team can act on tomorrow. Simulation outputs that require an engineer to interpret are not useful to an architecture team. Outputs that change facade geometry are.
Site experience and computational precision are not opposites. They are the same discipline at different scales. Nine years on a single construction site taught me what a computational model needs to get right, and what can be simplified without losing validity.