Oases
Networks of KnowledgeNational Olmsted Scholarship (2025)
Hart Howerton Fellowship
Advised by Landscape Architecture Foundation // Hart Howerton Fellowship Committee
Oases: Networks of Knowledge is an ongoing research and design initiative exploring the ecological, cultural and spatial intelligence embedded within the traditional oasis landscapes of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically connected through vast networks of trade, migration and knowledge exchange, these landscapes have sustained human settlement in some of the world's most arid environments through highly sophisticated systems of water management, agricultural cultivation and communal stewardship.
Today, these landscapes face mounting pressures from climate change, groundwater depletion, urbanisation and the erosion of intergenerational knowledge. Through extensive fieldwork, oral histories, photography, ecological observation and spatial documentation, the project investigates how oasis communities are responding to these challenges, adapting inherited practices and developing new forms of environmental resilience.
Through comparative studies of Al Ain, Siwa, Fayoum, and AlUla, the research documents the intricate relationships between water, agriculture, architecture and community life. Beyond documenting these individual landscapes, the initiative seeks to re-establish connections between geographically dispersed oasis communities, creating opportunities for the exchange of knowledge, experiences and adaptive practices.
Conceived as an evolving archive and collaborative network, Oases: Networks of Knowledge positions traditional oasis landscapes not as relics of the past, but as living laboratories of environmental adaptation. The project explores how landscape architecture can serve as a medium for recording, translating and communicating locally held knowledge, while advocating for its relevance to contemporary approaches to aridity, ecological stewardship and climate resilience.
Acknowledgements
I am deeply grateful to the Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF) for selecting me as a 2025 Olmsted Scholar and for recognising and supporting the continued development of Oases: Networks of Knowledge. I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to the Harvard Graduate School of Design's Master in Landscape Architecture faculty for their nomination, encouragement and continued support. My thanks go to Hart Howerton, whose Travel Fellowship first made this research possible, enabling the initial fieldwork and documentation of oasis landscapes across North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. What began as an exploratory investigation has since developed into an ongoing research initiative, expanding through new fieldwork, community relationships and opportunities for knowledge exchange. I am immensely grateful to these institutions for their generosity and belief in the project, which continues to evolve beyond its original scope and ambitions.