Suad Amiry

Suad Amiry was born in 1951 in Damascus, Syria, to a Syrian mother and a Palestinian father from Jaffa. Amiry’s family was forced out of their Jerusalem house in 1948 Nakba: the mass exodus of 85% of the Palestinians from their homeland in order to create the new state of Israel. 

Growing up between Amman, Damascus, Beirut and Cairo, Amiry’s identity was shaped by exile and a longing for home. These early experiences of rootlessness and political upheaval would later become central themes in both Amiry’s architectural practice and literary work.

Despite the instability surrounding her, Amiry was raised in an environment that valued education, culture, and political awareness. Her father was a known political figure as well as a writer and a historian on Jerusalem and Palestine. While her mother was a businesswoman’s who owned a publishing and printing house. Amiry’s mother was a strong and resourceful figure, who instilled in her daughter a deep sense of resilience and courage and a love for heritage. The diversity of languages, cultures, and conflicts that surrounded Amiry’s upbringing gave her a unique perspective—one that blended cosmopolitan exposure with a fierce connection to her Palestinian roots.

Amiry’s academic journey was as international as her childhood and coming of age. She pursued architecture a field that allowed her to blend creativity, political consciousness, and cultural identity. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the American University of Beirut (AUB), a formative institution during the ‘70’s: Lebanon’s most intellectually vibrant era. Her time at AUB deepened her commitment to Arab modernism and the role of architecture as a cultural and political force.

She went on to earn her Master’s degree in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan and later received a PhD in Architecture from the University of Edinburgh. Her doctoral thesis explored issues of space, gender, heritage, and colonialism—topics that would later echo throughout her writing and activism. The fusion of academic rigor and lived experience made Amiry uniquely equipped to challenge dominant narratives about Palestine and urban space.

Amiry’s return to Ramallah in 1981, marked the beginning of a remarkable chapter in both her professional and personal life. She founded RIWAQ: Centre for Architectural Conservation in 1991, a groundbreaking NGO dedicated to preserving Palestine’s architectural heritage. Under her leadership, Riwaq launched two ambitious projects namely: Riwaq’s National Registry of Historic Building, a 3-volume publication documenting 50,320 building in 420 villages and cities in the west bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip. And the “50-Village Project,” another large scale initiative that aims to restore historical buildings and revitalize historic centers in marginalized rural communities.

For Amiry, architecture was never just about buildings—it was about memory, identity, and survival. In a land fragmented by colonization and erasure, restoring a home, a church, a mosque, a public square or a whole historic village centre, was an act of cultural resistance. Her work at Riwaq went far beyond physical restoration; it fostered a sense of continuity, dignity, and hope among communities living under military colonization.

Amiry gained international recognition not only for her architectural work but also for her writing. Her breakout memoir, “Sharon and My Mother-in-Law: Ramallah Diaries” (2003), was written during the Israeli military incursion of Arafat’s Headquarters and the twin city of Ramallah-Al-Bireh where Amiry lives. Her war diaries were poignant, witty, and deeply human account of everyday life under Israeli military curfew, the book struck a global chord. Written initially as emails to friends abroad, the diary captured the absurdities, heartbreaks, and small triumphs of everyday life in a besieged city.

Her literary voice is marked by sharp humor, biting irony, and profound empathy. Other notable works include “Mother of Strangers”, “My Damascus”, “Menopausal Palestine,” “Nothing to Lose but Your Life,” each blending personal narrative with historical reflection. Through her storytelling, Amiry dismantles stereotypes of Palestinian victimhood, portraying instead a vibrant, complex, and often irreverent society fighting for its right to exist.

She writes not as an outsider observing war, but as a woman deeply embedded in the daily joys and devastations of Palestinian life. Amiry has become a prominent speaker on issues of architecture, heritage, and the Palestinian struggle.

Suad Amiry’s legacy spans multiple fields: she is a trailblazing architect, a preservationist, a feminist, and one of the most compelling Palestinian voices in contemporary literature. She has challenged dominant narratives around Palestine—not only through the physical preservation of heritage buildings, but also through storytelling that restores a sense of self-determination, humor, and emotional depth in the Palestinian experience. Her ability to transform lived realities into accessible, evocative prose has made her a bridge between Palestinian society and international audiences.

Amiry’s literary work has had a lasting cultural impact. Her books, translated into more than twenty languages, are studied in university courses and cited in discussions of postcolonial literature, gender, and urban identity. Through memoir, satire, and travel writing, she has expanded the global understanding of Palestinian life beyond conflict headlines—illuminating the texture of everyday resistance and the nuances of identity under colonization. Her voice resonates across borders, appealing to readers who value human complexity over political reductionism.

Her influence has been recognized globally. Riwaq has received numerous international awards, and in 2025 Amiry was awarded the Ada Louise Huxtable Women Prize  for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale of Architecture—an extraordinary recognition for a Palestinian woman working at the intersection of cultural preservation and political struggle. She has taught at universities, and continues to mentor young architects, writers, and activists across the Arab world.

Perhaps what makes Suad Amiry most powerful is her ability to turn the personal into the political and the political into the personal. Whether restoring a crumbling Ottoman house in a Palestinian village or narrating the chaos of waiting at an Israeli checkpoint, she exposes the deep entanglement of land, memory, and identity.

In a world where Palestine is often spoken about, Amiry speaks from within. She crafts architecture not just from stone but from memory. She builds stories not just with words but with the full weight of history and resistance, sometimes mixed with humor. 

Suad Amiry’s life is a testament to the enduring power of cultural resilience. In the face of colonization, exile, and silence, she has built monuments of memory and carved a space for Palestinian voices in both global architecture and literature. Her legacy is one of fierce creativity, unapologetic humor, and unbreakable resistance.

• Peasant Architecture in Palestine: Space, Kinship and Gender (Riwaq, 2018)
• Reclaiming Space: The 50 Village Project in Rural Palestine (co-editor Amiry and Bshara, 2015, Riwaq architectural Monograph Series)
• Manateer: The Architecture of Agricultural Watchtowers, (Riwaq publication, 2003).
• Throne Villages: A Social History of Feudal Estates in Palestine, (Riwaq publication, 2002).
• Traditional Floor Tiles in Palestine, (Riwaq publication, 2000)
• “Challenges Facing the Protection of Cultural Heritage in Palestine”, Contribution to The City Local Traditional and Global Destiny” Sida Publication, Stockholm 1998).
•  “Traditional Typologies in Palestinian Architecture” CORPUS: Traditional Architecture in the Mediterranean Space- Euromed Heritage Programme Publication 2001).
• The Palestinian Village Home, (with Vera Tamari), (British Museum Publications, London,1989).
• Trees, Shrubs and Ground Covers for Landscape Use in Jordan and Neighboring Countries (co-authored with Jan Cejka).

• Sharon and my Mother-in-law (Feltrinelli, Milan, 2003, Granta Books, London, 2005, Random House, New York, 2006) —translated into 18 languages).
• If this is Life (Feltrinelli, Milan, 2005)
• Menopausal Palestine: Women at the Edge (Women Unlimited, India 2010).
• Nothing to Lose but Your Life: An 18-hour Journey with Murad (2010, Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publication).
• Golda Slept Here (Feltrinelli, Milano 2014, Women Unlimited, India 2014, and Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation and 2015)
• My Damascus (Feltrinelli, Milano 2016)
• Mother of Strangers (Rando-House 2022)Sharon and my Mother-in-law (Feltrinelli, Milan, 2003, Granta Books, London, 2005, Random House, New York, 2006) —translated into 18 languages).
• If this is Life (Feltrinelli, Milan, 2005)
• Menopausal Palestine: Women at the Edge (Women Unlimited, India 2010).
• Nothing to Lose but Your Life: An 18-hour Journey with Murad (2010, Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publication).
• Golda Slept Here (Feltrinelli, Milano 2014, Women Unlimited, India 2014, and Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation and 2015)
• My Damascus (Feltrinelli, Milano 2016)
• Mother of Strangers (Rando-House 2022)