Architect Najim Azadzoi, AIA, S.M.Arch.S, a graduate of MIT School of Architecture and Planning and a former assistant professor of Architecture at Kabul University, was born in Ghazni and completed his education at Ghazi High School in Kabul in 1972, ranking number one in his class. At the age of 17, he received the AFS scholarship and went to the United States to study in 1973. He graduated from the Faculty of Engineering at Kabul University in 1978, again ranking number one in his class. He retained a faculty position in the Faculty of Engineering at Kabul University and taught for three years. In August 1981, he left the country and moved to Pakistan. He worked with UNICEF in Pakistan for eight months in the field of water supply and environmental protection in the Afghan refugee camps. In August 1981, he moved to the United States and received a scholarship to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and earned a master's degree in urban planning and architecture in 1984. He was appointed as a research fellow at Harvard University and contributed to the publication of the book “Afghanistan, An Atlas of Indigenous Domestic Architecture” in 1995. From 1985 to 1993, he taught at various universities including the Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT) and the Boston Architecture Center (BAC) in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Mr. Azadzoi is also an International Board Member at the University of Massachusetts, Center for Rebuilding Sustainable Communities after Disaster (CRSCAD). In May 1993, he founded Azad Architects, a Design and Planning firm in Boston, Massachusetts and has served as the CEO of the company to date. Since 2001 to 2017 he has been involved in various reconstruction projects in Afghanistan. During this time, he served as the Lead Architect for the USAID reconstruction team in Kabul, as the Senior Consultant and Architect with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, and as a senior advisor with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning, Municipality of Kabul, and Kabul University and the Ministry of Higher Education. He has organized numerous national and international conferences, seminars, and workshops concerning Afghanistan art, architecture, and rebuilding efforts. Mr. Azadzoi has written numerous articles in the USA and international newspapers on architecture, urban planning, and reconstruction of Afghanistan. He received the Golden Award from the American Council of Engineering in 2004. Mr. Azadzoi has written two books on the history of Afghans ruler, Azad Khan, in Persia in the mid-18th century. |