Raya Ani an award winning architect and urban designer with 25 years of professional experience having worked in Baghdad, Germany, Boston, New York City and Dubai. In 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, she was named one of the top most powerful and influential Architects in the Middle East. She won the AIA Middle East election at the end of 2015 to become the 2017 President of the American Institute of Architects - Middle East Chapter

 

She received her BSC in Architectural Engineering from Baghdad University with distinctions, and an MS in Architectural Studies from MIT where she was awarded the Harvard / MIT Aga Khan Scholarship. She has taught urban and architectural design studios and served as a guest critic at a number of leading architectural schools in New York, Boston and Dubai. Raya Ani is a licensed Architect in the State of New York and a US Green Building Council Accredited Professional.

 

In 2016, She was selected as one of five inspiring and powerful personalities in the world by Black Tomato travel and Cadillac and represented Dubai and the MENA region. In 2016, She was shortlisted from a list of 43 leading women architects in New York to enter an international design competition to convert a women’s prison to an international Hub for Women’s Empowerment. She led RAW-NYC team for Liberland to design a masterplan for a new micro-nation. Her vision for Liberland won the first place and the work was widely published. In 2017, BUILD magazine named RAW-NYC Architects as Best Interdisciplinary Architecture Studio - New York and Best Middle Eastern Sport Facility Design for Qatar Sports Complex. Her design of Bamiyan Cultural Center in Afghanistan won a Merit Award at the AIA International Region Design Awards in Prague.

 

Raya Ani is a regular guest speaker at international architectural conferences and architecture schools in Dubai, Qatar, India, London and the US. She was the conference Chair for 10,958 DAYS into the future conference by AIA Middle East in Sharjah.