Studio Design Director/ /KEO INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANTS Haitham Mousa serves as the KEO Studio Design Director responsible for driving the firm’s architectural vision and shaping its future direction. Under his intuitive leadership, KEO’s concept design practice has undertaken a remarkable transformation not only in terms of elevated design quality but also to a broader footprint. His extensive professional and research journey has taken him to cities such as Milan, Berlin, Madrid, Tokyo, Alicante, Rome, and Dubai, driven by his passion for lifelong learning. Throughout this significant journey, he has drawn inspiration from distinguished architects like Kengo Kuma, Sou Fujimoto, and Massimiliano Fuksas. Haitham and the KEO team are actively involved in designing and shaping some of the largest developments in the Middle East, including architectural visions for new cities, national housing projects, public and community buildings, and public schools. Haitham has worked on various significant design projects in the region, including those for the largest national housing project in KSA, NEOM’s future visions, Dubai Global Connect Project (DGC) known as the ‘City of Trade,’ and the award-winning Akoya Nursery School in Dubai. He participated in establishing Sharjah’s Urban Guidelines for eight cultural heritage sites, now UNESCO World Heritage Sites, managed by the SGTS Management Office, Government of Sharjah. As an architect, Haitham embraces the extensive social and environmental responsibility that comes with his role. His master’s graduation project, ‘Scar City’, which was shortlisted for the Archiprix International Award, focused on a paradigm of new desert settlement with its intrinsic environmental, social, and economic challenges. His interest in social equity drew him to participate in the Dopo initiative (meaning “after” in Italian and standing for “Design Oriented Post-Pandemic Opportunities”) as a response to the global pandemic.