Research: The Sofa House in the North-West of Arabia: Pre and Post Oil Discovery
Born and raised in Saudi Arabia, Rita Salamouni is a French-Lebanese conservation architect who obtained her Master’s degree from La Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. Before graduating, she worked on the restoration of 18th century central hall houses in Beirut as well as some of France’s historical monuments in Rome with Pierre-Antoine Gatier (PAG), head architect of the French historical monuments in Italy. She also worked on the conservation of AlUla’s old town in Saudi Arabia.
Having completed her Bachelor degree at the Lebanese American University in Beirut (LAU), Lebanon, her main research interests are in urban morphology and conservation. She is particularly interested in the forming process of the vernacular dwellings and the sofa house. She believes that the phenomenon of the evolution of the human shelter is worth travelling back in time in order to understand the mechanism of their forming process done by knotting.
Her interests also focus on demonstrative studies that try to show how these central hall dwellings can be used in contemporary cities in efficient ways.