Bio

Zayad is an interdisciplinary architect, designer, and researcher focused on information-based digital design and sustainable systems. He currently leads the computational design division at Arch_Manu, [the ARC Centre for Next Gen Architectural Manufacturing], at UNSW, Sydney. With over 30 years of professional experience, primarily in practice, Zayad is a licensed architect with the ARB and RAIA in Australia and New Zealand.

Zayad's diverse cultural interests have led him to expand his academic and professional portfolio across Australia, New Zealand, China, and the Middle East. In 2014, he founded AmorphouStudio, an award-winning visionary architecture and design studio based in Dubai and Sydney. He has also held prominent design and management roles in internationally renowned practices such as Woods Bagot and Lava, working on high-profile projects with budgets up to $500 million, mainly in Dubai. Alongside his professional practice, Zayad has been a regular speaker and panelist at design conferences, and his work has been featured in several notable design magazines and websites.

In academia, Zayad most recently served as an associate professor at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) in Suzhou, China, where he spent five years and was appointed director of the digital design group. Additionally, he founded d-NAT [Design Network for Art, Architecture, and Technology] in 2014, a collaborative research network exploring design possibilities at the intersection of natural systems, design, and technology.

Zayad’s work is a reflection of his fascination with the complex form of order found in patterns and organisations of natural systems. Working at the nexus of humans, nature and technology, his work is continuous research on the symbiotic relationship amid nature, architecture, and technology to produce an adaptive, aesthetically sensible, and performance-based design. His recent research examines co-evolutionary possibilities in the interaction between humans and technology (algorithm) in the context of the built environment. This research seeks to foster a dialogue between humans and algorithms through an interactive design process, wherein human designers engage with algorithmic processes to capture intention and creativity, facilitating a synthesis between designers' intuition and computational prowess.

Professional memberships

  • ARB registered Architect (NSW Architects Registration Board, Australia)
  • RAIA (Member of Royal Australian Institute of Architects)
  • ANZIA (Associate of New Zealand Institute of Architects)

Awards and honours

  • A' Design Award, Silver Medal, Milan Design Week, 2018.
  • AIA Award, Marshes of Mesopotamia Project, Unbuilt Projects, 2013
  • Short Listed, Concept Design of the Year, Middle East Architects Award, Dubai, 2017
  • Tall Buildings, The Symbiotic Towers, Moscow, 2018
  • Zukunftsreport 2019, GolfFuturismus, Future Sustainable Projects in the Gulf, 2019
  • Zukunftsreport - Ecological vision, Marshes of Mesopotamia Project, Future Sustainable Projects 2020