Conference Proceedings by Asma Mehan
ORIENTING IMAGINATION: What are the stakes on the Llano Estacado?, 2025
This paper examines how the legacy of Jim Crow laws continues to shape Lubbock’s urban form and s... more This paper examines how the legacy of Jim Crow laws continues to shape Lubbock’s urban form and social geography. Drawing on historical maps, policy documents, and spatial analysis, it traces the city’s use of racial zoning, discriminatory urban renewal, and infrastructure placement to enforce segregation well into the mid-20th century. The talk highlights how these planning decisions left lasting physical and socio-economic divides, influencing housing patterns, public amenities, and mobility networks. By connecting past policies to present-day inequities, the presentation invites a critical discussion on the role of architects, planners, and policymakers in addressing structural injustice and advancing spatial equity.
113th ACSA Annual Meeting Proceedings, Repair, 2025
The application of Augmented Reality (AR) in construction is transforming how non-expert users en... more The application of Augmented Reality (AR) in construction is transforming how non-expert users engage with complex assembly processes, with its potential to foster broader community involvement in urban space production remaining underexplored. This paper presents an integrated framework that incorporates AR-enabled phygital instructions with timber dowel structures, facilitating the active participation of non-experts in the design-to-production process of an urban community food podium. By leveraging AR and computational design, the system bridges the gap between expert and non-expert users, enabling wider participation in the construction process while maintaining precision through robotic fabrication and step-by-step digital guidance. Tested within a graduate-level course and showcased at a public event, the project aims to empower community members to engage in production and assembly, offering insights into participatory urban design and co-production. The results demonstrate the capacity of augmented fabrication to enhance human agency, making complex construction tasks accessible and collaborative, and paving the way for resource-driven, community-enabling urban developments.
ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATICS - Proceedings of the 30th CAADRIA Conference, Tokyo, 2025
This research explores the design-to-production computational framework of a Timber Dowel System,... more This research explores the design-to-production computational framework of a Timber Dowel System, emphasizing an integrated computational workflow informed by fabrication and assembly feedback. This workflow incorporates contextual and fabricability parameters, enabling a parametric framework optimized for performance, adaptability, and scalability. The initial design process utilized a modular plug-and-play approach, employing manually controlled surfaces and poly-surfaces to explore flexible geometries and structural configurations. Two full-scale prototypes were developed using AR-guided assembly and robotic milling, addressing production challenges such as dowel placement precision, material limitations, and assembly feasibility. Feedback from these prototypes informed refinements in the computational framework, translating into practical parameters to improve structural integrity and procedural efficiency. A horizontal orientation was prioritized due to its standalone stability, while multiple extensions of the initial basket prototype were analysed to evaluate and study the system performance under varied geometric configurations. By integrating community-driven requirements and contextual considerations, this research lays the groundwork for a multi-criteria framework that supports informed design variation and facilitates collaborative co-production workflows.
Perishable Traces: Reconstructing the History of Iranian Women Architects
ICAG 2023 - VI INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ARCHITECTURE AND GENDER, 2023
In this paper, I seek to address the underrepresentation of Iranian women architects in historica... more In this paper, I seek to address the underrepresentation of Iranian women architects in historical narratives, exploring the perishable traces of their work and contributions to the field of architecture. Inspired by Carla Lonzi's call for women to consider their narrative incomplete and the International Archive of Women in Architecture (IAWA), I delve into the unique challenges Iranian women architects face and their impact on architectural history. I examine the historiographical review of Iranian women architects, their work, and their contributions to the field, highlighting the importance of preserving and disseminating this often overlooked knowledge. By investigating the current editorial challenges, I explore how archived material should be disseminated and the agency of such material in shaping a more inclusive and accurate historical narrative.Furthermore, I discuss the role of resources, archives, and new technologies in preserving and accessing the work of Iranian women architects. In light of data feminism and information visualization, I consider the implications of algorithms and digital technologies on accessing archived information and the potential for a more inclusive historical narrative.Through the lens of Iranian women architects, this paper contributes to the broader discussion on the representation and history of women in architecture. By unearthing and preserving the perishable traces of their work, I seek to reconstruct a more complete, accurate, and inclusive narrative that acknowledges and celebrates the achievements of women architects across the globe.
In-Presence/The Body and The Space: The role of corporality in the era of virtualization, 2024
The integration of AR/VR in architectural space is reshaping our interaction with the built envir... more The integration of AR/VR in architectural space is reshaping our interaction with the built environment [Milgram, Kishino 1994]. This study delves into the transformative role of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in architectural spaces, revolutionizing how we interact with the built environment. It explores the intersection of AR and VR technologies with corporeal experiences, fundamentally altering architectural design and user engagement. Utilizing Milgram and Kishino’s virtuality continuum and Heim’s virtual realism, the research examines the blend of real and virtual worlds [Heim 1998; Milgram & Kishino 1994]. Gibson’s theory of affordances in virtual environments underpins the analysis of user interactions [Gibson 1977]. the study highlights AR/VR’s potential in redefining architectural practice and calls for integrating these technologies with sustainable design principles [Achten, 2017]. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of how AR/VR technologies can be harnessed to create more adaptive, inclusive, and responsive urban environments.
The 6th Annual Engaged Scholarship Symposium, 2024
College towns contain mixtures of students and locals, tied to the intitution’s urban life. Due t... more College towns contain mixtures of students and locals, tied to the intitution’s urban life. Due to students’ health, community engagement must be prioritized in these towns. However, technology is often blamed for distancing people. A paradoxical use of it, specifically immersive technology, a youth favorite, can be the solution by focusing on the technological narratives of the institute-related materials to improve community cohesion. This strategy shaped connections between students and locals and among past, present, and future. In this presentation, the impact of immersive technology will be discussed and compared in two college towns, Lancaster, UK, and Lubbock, USA.
DRS2024: Boston, 2024
This paper explores spatial justice in urban environments through immersive art and design, focus... more This paper explores spatial justice in urban environments through immersive art and design, focusing on Amsterdam and Houston. It presents a case study from theVenice Biennale 2023, showcasing art's potential in fostering inclusive urban spaces.The study delves into the socio-political complexities of urban areas, highlighting of-ten-ignored liminal spaces and their tensions and possibilities. Immersive art emerges as a transformative medium, capable of challenging and reshaping perceptions of space, and addressing systemic socio-economic disparities. Adopting a transdisciplinary approach, the research combines insights from various fields to enrich discussions on spatial justice and inspire urban transformations. By examining liminal spaces and the 'phygital' nexus, the paper challenges conventional urban narratives and advocates for more inclusive and equitable urban strategies.
CONGRESO XVII TICCIH —CHILE (Patrimonio Industrial: Entendiendo el pasado, haciendo el futuro sostenible), Nov 2018
During the rapid process of deindustrialization in Iran, the term ‘industrial heritage’ has recen... more During the rapid process of deindustrialization in Iran, the term ‘industrial heritage’ has recently emerged as a new subject into public realm. In order to integrate the methodologies for the protection and adaptive reuse strategies, the ‘industrial heritage’ itself needs to be divided into various categories. UNESCO has begun inscribing increasing numbers of local industrial legacies such as railway, mines, factories, assembly plants, agricultural production and manufacturing production in its World Heritage List. However, in the process of their adaptive reuse the question of heritage meanings arises. Over the past century in Iran, powerful corporate and governmental actors have created a broad range of oil imaginaries that changed over time and in line with local cultures. Starting from 1920s and after the nationalization of oil industry in Iran, oil cities such as Abadan and Masjid Suleiman saw massive expansion to house labors and oil-industry specialists who had arrived from the United States, Europe, India, and the Persian Gulf states.
This research aims to clarify how the oil industry, in close collaboration with national governments, has materially shaped the oil cities through oil-specific architecture like company headquarters, gas stations, retail and infrastructure buildings. The current legacy of oil industry continues to reshape the industry, society and politics as well. This research uses a critical and analytical problem-based approach to examine the current policies that build a new image and identity through adaptive reuse strategies to promote sustainable local development in Iran’s industrial heritage.
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Conference Proceedings by Asma Mehan
This research aims to clarify how the oil industry, in close collaboration with national governments, has materially shaped the oil cities through oil-specific architecture like company headquarters, gas stations, retail and infrastructure buildings. The current legacy of oil industry continues to reshape the industry, society and politics as well. This research uses a critical and analytical problem-based approach to examine the current policies that build a new image and identity through adaptive reuse strategies to promote sustainable local development in Iran’s industrial heritage.