- Design Practices
- Environment and Technology
About me
Nasser Golzari is an architect and academic dedicated to social architecture and the creation of inclusive cities that advance socio-environmental ecologies within post-colonial contexts. As the founder of GOLZARI (NG) Architects in London and co-founder of the Palestine Regeneration Team (PART), Golzari is deeply committed to rethinking scarred and contested landscapes through both speculative and live projects, in line with his passion for socially responsive architecture.
Golzari challenges Western, market-driven architectural practices, drawing inspiration from the daily rituals, narratives, and passive ecological practices of the Global South. His work seeks to reclaim and celebrate socially driven architecture, particularly focusing on ‘the invisible other.’
His research in cultural identity, social architecture, and European Modernism has led him to edit A3 Times and curate exhibitions, symposiums, and lectures across the UK and Europe. He has collaborated with architects like Peter Blundell Jones and Florian Beigel, championing an alternative modernist tradition.
Golzari has published extensively on participatory design and learning from the Global South.
Recently, he co-founded Architects for Gaza and Gaza Global University to support displaced students and assist in the self-help reconstruction of homes.
He has co-curated a series of national and international exhibitions, including the London Festival of Architecture (2023, 2024), the Sharjah Architecture Triennial (2024), the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Chicago Architecture Biennial (2019), and the Berlinale (2020).
His projects and research have received numerous awards, including the RIBA President's Medals High Commendation Award (2016), the Grand Designs NACSBA Shortlist (2016), and the Constructing Communities Award Shortlist (2016). Golzari has also been involved in collaborative projects with the Palestinian NGO Riwaq, their collaborative work won the Holcim Commendation Award for Sustainable Construction in the MENA Region (2014) for the Beit Iksa Eco Kitchen and the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (2013) for the Regeneration of Birzeit Historic Centre. Additionally, his projects in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets were nominated for the Civic Trust Awards in 2000, 1997, and 1996.
Golzari's recent work on reconstruction in Gaza has been awarded Quintin Hogg Trust funding for 2024.
He is currently a Senior Lecturer and the Course Leader of MA Architecture, as well as leading Design Studio 22 as part of March Riba Part 2 at the School of Architecture and Cities.
Teaching
Golzari’s teaching career spans over 30 years across both postgraduate and undergraduate courses. His teaching engages with socio-political issues, with a particular focus on design-led research. His work explores the intersection of architectural design, theory, and research, encouraging students to develop their own positions and identities as creative practitioners and thinkers.
He is the course leader for the MA Architecture programme, and has been leading the Cultural Identity and Globalisation pathway since 2005. In addition, he leads several key modules, including Major Thesis Project, Space and Identity, and Research and Thesis Positioning. Alongside this, he has taught across multiple undergraduate and postgraduate courses and has supervised and examined numerous Master’s and PhD dissertations.
Golzari’s academic interests span across diverse fields of inquiry, including colonial and post-colonial theories, Modernist architecture, reconstruction in post conflict contexts and contested landscape . He welcomes applicants interested in design-led research and themes related to the Global South, contested landscapes, and responsive architecture.
Golzari was also part of the founding team for the BA Designing Cities and MSc Environmental Design programmes. Over his long academic career, he has taught at several universities, including Oxford Brookes University, London Metropolitan University, and Central Saint Martins, where he played a key role in establishing the RIBA-accredited architecture course.
Research
A SELECTION OF RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
2007 - Current co-founder of Palestine Regeneration Team (PART)
2024 -Current co founder of Architects for Gaza
2004- 05 New Towns for Compact Cities - culture and economic sustainability
2004-05 'Walled city - London Docklands'
2004 -05 'London Post-colonial Hyper Modern city' Urban Planning Symposium
2003- Investigations on vertical gardens, green roofs and natural cooling system for a prototype green Office - In association with Pierre d'Avoine Architects and London Metropolitan University
2002- Research on energy efficiency methods, courtyard climatic house with solar chimneys- in association with Pierre d'Avoine Architects, Universities of Oxford Brookes and London Metropolitan University as an energy consultant. Sponsored by Iranian Fuel Conservation organisation.
2002- Research on prefabricated-ready made housing technologies with Pierre d' Avoine Architects.
2000- Works and writings of Hugo Haring and the secret of form with Peter Blundell Jones and Sheffield University. Sponsored by the Arts Council of England and private practice.
1996 - Vertical and suspended gardens with courtyard live-work units and different living Manchester.
1996- Living types social housing SRB bid, London.
1994- The architect, Hans Sharoun, projects and works. Sponsored by the Arts Council, Foundation
for Sports & arts, A3Times magazine, Universities of Sheffield South Bank and North London in
collaboration with Peter Blundell Jones and Academic De Kunst Berlin.
1994- Short and long-term living types, suspended gardens and collective living ideas Neruppin
Germany researched with the students at the University of East London and CG Architects.
1988- Proposal for self-build energy-efficient house in collaboration with the University of North London
and Tower Hamlets Housing department and the centre for alternative technology.
1887- Research on Erich Mendelsohn and the Bexhill Pavilion works and writing sponsored by private practices, A3 Times magazine and Bexhill pavilion.
1986- Research on British Modern architecture, 100 years.
A SELECTION OF FORMER ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES
- Golzari has been an educational advisor for several architectural institutions and universities in the Middle East including the Isfahan University of Arts and Azad University.
- He also led the academic team in forming a whole new university in Karachi. As the Acting Dean, he set up the school of Architecture and Spatial Design.
- Design Studio Leader MArch and BA Hons Architecture Oxford Brookes University
- Office-based examiner, Riba Part II, Oxford Brookes University
- Architecture Pathway Leader Central Saint Martin CSM University of the Arts
- Spatial Pathway Leader Central Saint Martin CSM University of the Arts
- Chair and urban advisor to The International Art and Architecture Research Association.
- Research Editor SOS International Architectural Urban and Engineering Design Magazine.
Publications
For details of all my research outputs, visit my WestminsterResearch profile.