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Hila Sabouni, graduate student in architecture from Iran, presented her paper on “Shanashir: A Novel, Efficient Mashrabiya Redesign” at the Symposium on Simulation for Architecture and Urban Design (SimAUD) 2021 online conference April 15–17, and it will be published in the conference proceedings.

The paper explores the applicability of Mashrabiya, a historic building assembly that partially covers a building opening, for contemporary design that advances net-zero energy goals for a changing climate. Sabouni used the Arab World Institute and Louvre Abu Dhabi as case studies as they are both incorporate Mashrabiya in concept and structure with a focus on light, and to push the computational potentials of Mashrabiya for adaptation to contemporary structures. Following her analysis of AWI and LAD, which are situated in very different climate conditions, and numerous performance simulations, Sibouni proposed a school building facade equipped with Shanashir (another ancient name for Mashrabiya) in Isfahan, Iran, that attempts to rectify the challenges of the modern Mashrabiya and promote a healthy interior space.