ASU and Leeds Document New Ways to Reuse Jordan’s Architectural Heritage

Historic details from Jordanian buildings are being given new lives as contemporary design objects through a joint project by Applied Science Private University and the University of Leeds.

The Heritage Re-Made Project: A Manifesto for Living Architecture was developed through ASU’s Special Topics in Architecture course. Led at ASU by Dr Reem Albarakat, the studio introduced students to digital methods for recording historic buildings and examining how their architectural elements could be used today.

Students studied buildings dating mainly from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They carried out field investigations, prepared architectural drawings, took photographs and created 3D point-cloud models to study the geometry, materials and functions of individual features.

The resulting designs turn those features into contemporary products. Tala Samara created a wall-mounted light inspired by the decorative fanlight of Falah Al-Hamad House in Al-Salt. Mohammad Jamous based a contemporary lounge chair on the geometric patterns and arches of the wrought-iron window grille at Beit Yaish in Amman’s Jabal Al-Weibdeh.

Dr Albarakat and Professor Gehan Selim of the University of Leeds formally documented the studio in a report published through White Rose Research Online on July 28, 2026. The project forms part of the UK-Jordan International Partnership Hub for Digital Heritage Futures and Sustainable Development, led by Leeds with ASU and supported by Research England. The report presents the studio as a model for bringing digital heritage documentation into architectural education while connecting historic design with contemporary practice.