Fatma Mhmood is a trained architect with a background in urban design and theory-based landscape studies. Her positionality as an Emirati woman has shaped both the questions she asks and the methods through which she pursues them. Fatma's work is situated at the intersection of rapid urbanization, desert landscapes, gender, and postcolonial studies. She recently completed her PhD in architecture at the University of Cambridge. Her doctoral research explored socio-cultural constructs of nature in the UAE context, contributing to the broader literature on gender and landscape, feminist epistemologies of situated knowledge, and intersectionality.
Fatma lectured and supervised courses at the University of Cambridge. She published journal articles engaging with the themes of sensory landscapes and the politics of landscape representations with a focus on the desert.
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Fatma holds a Master in Design studies with a concentration in Urbanism, Landscape and Ecology from Harvard Graduate School of Design. Her master's thesis focused on developing a critical understanding of fullness in the Empty Quarter desert and questioning binary constructions of desert and green. She also worked as a research assistant at the Office For Urbanization and the Critical Landscapes Lab at Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Fatma also holds a Master in Architecture and Urban Design (MSAUD) from Columbia University where she worked on multiscalar design projects that link cities, ecosystems, and infrastructure. During her time in New York City, she practiced as an architectural associate at Latent Productions where she worked on the renovation of Greylock Works.
Prior to her time in the United States, Fatma worked as a client architect at Emaar Properties in Dubai, engaging in multi-scalar design projects within the hospitality development sector. She obtained a Bachelor of Architecture (BArch) from the American University of Sharjah, and previously worked as an intern architect at Dominique Perrault Architecture in Paris contributing to the project Étude urbaine pour le développement du quartier de l'Étang located in Geneva.
