Research and Innovation

Prof Amira Osman

DST-NRF-SACN SARChI Chair in Spatial Transformation: Positive Change in the Built Environment
Primary discipline: Architecture

​​Amira Osman is a Sudanese/South African architect, researcher, academic, activist, public speaker, and author. She is a Professor of Architecture at the Tshwane University of Technology and holds the position of SARChI: DST/NRF/SACN Research Chair in Spatial Transformation (Positive Change in the Built Environment).  

​​​​​​​​​Amira obtained a PhD in Architecture from the University of Pretoria in 2004. She was a convener for the World Congress on Housing (2005) and the Sustainable Human(e) Settlements: the urban challenge (2012); she served the International Union of Architects (UIA) and the South African Institute of Architects (SAIA) as UIA 2014 Durban General Reporter and Head of the Scientific Committee for the event titled ARCHITECTURE OTHERWHERE.  

More recently she was Chair of the Local Organising Committee for the 9th International Conference on Appropriate Technology (9th ICAT 2020). Amira is currently a joint coordinator for the international CIB W104 Open Building Implementation network and the Vice-President of the South African Institute of Architects (SAIA) and will be hosting the conference: A City is [Not] a Tree: the Urban Ecologies of Divided Cities in 2022. 

She is the director of the organisation  PLATFORM100 which is a thinktank and a collaborative vehicle for promoting change in conversations and practice around architecture, space and cities. Amira is a registered Professional Architect (SACAP 7267) and the editor of The Built Environment in Emerging Economies (BEinEE) Book Series.

Amira has extensive experience curating international events, coordinating complex programmes and exhibitions in terms of design, conceptualising content and managing diverse teams.

She believes that the architectural profession has a critical role to play in the achievement of human settlements that are more equitable, more beautiful and more functional – human settlements that increase opportunities, offering people a better chance at improving their lives and livelihoods. The belief that the profession has the potential to offer both technical and social expertise towards these aims is the driving force behind Amira’s research projects and in her professional roles.
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Prof Osman’s field of expertise and research specialisation are as follows:
  • Housing Finance 
  • Housing Theory 
  • Housing Policy 
  • Urban Policy
  • Social Housing
  • Informal Settlements and upgrading 
  • Community-Based Architecture 
  • Open Building 
  • 4-D Design 
  • Time-Based Design
  • Sustainable Building Transformation 
  • Design: Theory and Methods 
  • Sudanese Modernism
  • Sudanese Built Environment History 
  • Sudanese Housing Finance​
  • Spatial Transformation ​
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For more information, contact:
Name: Prof Amira Osman
Tel: +27 83 287 4006