Amir Gohar, PhD. FHEA. AMLI.

Future Places, a Design Studio (UBJMSV-30)
The module examines the purpose of planning, institutional frameworks, and national policy contexts, emphasising sustainable development and climate action. Students explore planning across governance scales, from international to neighbourhood levels, then apply principles through a project addressing change within an existing urban area experiencing significant social, environmental, and economic transformation.

Context of Architecture: Cities and Societies (UBLL58-15)
This module explores architecture within its social and historical contexts, using the city as a living classroom. Through guided urban walks across public spaces in Bristol, students analyse buildings, streets, and cultures, linking global movements to local conditions while developing observational, analytical, and visual skills through on-site engagement and reflection.

Integrated Tourism and Sustainable Development (UBGMVU-30-3)
This graduate seminar examines tourism within international development, addressing globalisation, inequality, human rights, and justice. It explores sustainability strategies, stakeholder and NGO involvement, and community-based approaches, alongside environmental change, resource management, conservation, and governance of fragile ecosystems, including policy, carrying capacity, indicators, and wildlife tourism impacts, costs, benefits, and trade-offs.

Leading Major Projects (UBGMM9-30)
This graduate module immerses students in a real project site, developing insight into how planners lead urban change. Through engagement with planning, design, and delivery processes, students examine governance, stakeholders, risk, and decision-making, building skills required to manage, coordinate, and communicate complex major projects within dynamic political, social, and economic contexts.

History and Theory 3: Architectural Dissertation (RIBA I) (THA1121)
This module explores architecture’s cultural and theoretical contexts through an architectural dissertation. Students define a research topic aligned with their design interests and develop appropriate research methods. The module emphasises critical analysis, interpretation, and evaluation, presented through structured written and visual outputs that situate architectural thinking within broader disciplinary discourse.

MArch Dissertation (RIBA II) (TMA1160)
This module supports independent architectural research through the production of a 10,000-word illustrated dissertation. Teaching is delivered through lectures, seminars, and blended learning. Students undertake archival, site-based, and theoretical research, supported by structured tutorials and formative feedback, culminating in a rigorously structured written and visual academic submission.

Integrated Urban Design and Architecture (TMA1195)
This design studio focuses on the analysis of an existing urban context and the development of proposals for regeneration or future growth. Students undertake detailed urban surveys and strategic analysis, translating findings into integrated urban or architectural design projects that address spatial, social, and environmental relationships across multiple scales.

Design Studio 3: Place and Architecture (TIA1840)
This second-year design studio explores the relationship between place, theory, and architectural practice. The studio theme focuses on eco-hostel design, encouraging the integration of environmental technologies, material strategies, and contextual narratives. Students develop increasingly sophisticated design proposals through iterative experimentation, critical reflection, and holistic design resolution.

Advanced Studio (LAR648/LAR705)
Studio titled: Public Space Design: Integrated Solutions with Nature & People in Mind. An advanced graduate studio that works on both planning and design scales. Urban & tourism development for a water-front trail, that is part of a true RFP opened by the Government in Cairo. The students then focus on developing two detailed urban areas: (a) one for a public plaza in the neighborhood and (b) one for a specific segment of the Nile trail.

Advanced Seminar (LAR750)
Through a combination of lectures, discussions, debates, and review of recent events, this advanced graduate seminar explored urbanism, tourism & sustainability theories, history and different forces that shape the built environment as well as the ecological open landscapes. The class stretches to provide an opportunity for students to understand the theories and practices that shape the public space and the national parks.

Masters Proposal Writing (LA896)
This class is a preparatory class for the final year master’s report. It focuses on the exploration of procedures of planning, design, scheduling, organization, and management of a landscape architecture research project. It also guides students to commit to the major research principles and the university procedures and bylaws.

Environmental Planning Studio (LA205)
Through lectures, seminars, academic papers, professional reports, guest speakers and field work, this advanced graduate studio offers students a chance to explore the areas of urban vulnerability to climate change, and they learn to develop design and planning strategies to mitigate and adapt for future urbanization. The class has 3 modules with case studies in California, China and Chile.

Graduate Master Thesis Class (LA206)
Mentoring students’ projects and guiding their work to improve their hypothesis, research questions and methods in order to have successful research that has a contribution to the field. Students select to do an academic thesis or professional report responding to a chosen client. This class guides the students through the process and advises them in addition to their committee members.

Ecological Factors in Urban Landscape Design (LA201)
Through lectures, studio problems, research projects, and discussion, this advanced graduate course will explore the challenge and potential incorporating ecological factors in urban contexts. The course focuses on the interaction of landscape science (hydrology, geology, etc.) with the necessities and mechanisms of the human environment (urban design, transportation, economics, etc.). Lectures and research projects will particularly emphasize innovative and forward-thinking solutions to the ecological problems of the human environment.

The Process of Environmental Planning (LA237)
Environmental planning intersects with many other disciplines and incorporates a very wide array of sub disciplines. Ranging from city planning, land use planning, landscape architecture, forest management, wastewater management, wilderness preservation, urban sustainability and many more. Since there is no single course that can cover all environmental planning issues, this course draws from theory, history, ecological process, policy and real-life projects to construct a critical analysis of the role of environmental planning, its influences and potential impacts. The course will address issues such as environmental justice, urban landscape, global environmental challenges, sustainability of mega projects, threats to environmental resources and contemporary environmental policies. The course complements other planning and landscape classes across the college.

Design Activism (ED4 A)
This course explores relationships between design and activism, raising critical questions about what design is and how designers serve as guardians of culture and agents of change. The course surveys the ways in which activism has historically played a role in design practice at the scales of products, architecture, landscape, and cities. Through lectures, readings, and exercises, students will be exposed to a broad spectrum of design interventions that have attempted to instigate change (design activism) and the ways in which design has been wielded as a transformative tool (activist design) in the realms of public space, technology, aesthetics, materials, and ecology.

Environmental Studies (ENV300)
Part time lecturer delivering classes for students and professionals connecting academia with practice and bringing real-life experience to the classroom. Backed up with scholarly work and different documentaries, students are able to unpack and critique complex urban and environmental phenomena and learn the root cause of urban and environmental challenges.

Global Environmental Crises (GEOG776)
A seminar focusing on global issues and encouraging students to think across scales. Discussing the evolution of environmentalism to the recent contemporary challenges. The class discusses scholarly work as well as professional reports that focus on global issues such as climate change, deforestation, urbanization, and the role of international organization in addressing the global environmental challenges.