︎

Dana Salama 


دانة سلامة 


Designer/ artist/ researcher/ facilitator interested in spatial politics, “unauthorised” heritage,  participatory design. Currently based between Tkaronto and North Africa. 

NCARB Candidate. 

︎︎︎︎ ︎︎︎︎ ︎︎︎︎ ︎︎︎︎ ︎︎︎︎ ︎︎︎︎ ︎︎︎︎







 
Positions

  1. Co-instructor, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan, 2026-2027.
  2. Graduate student instructor, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan, 2024-2026.
  3. Co-founder, board member @ SHEEEPschool. https://sheeep.school (2024-26.)
  4. Member, Africa Alliance at Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning.
  5. Director, *countermap.
  6. Sessional lecturer, John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design.
  7. Sessional lecturer, OCADU Faculty of Design.
  8. Consultant, Aziza Chaouni Projects, 2023- 24.
  9. Associate, Aziza Chaouni Projects, 2020- 23.
  10. Architectural Designer, Aziza Chaouni Projects, 2019-20.
  11. Architectural designer, Measured Architecture Inc., 2017-19.
  12. Graduate teaching assistant (Measured Architectural Drafting), The University of British Columbia, 2019.
  13. Architectural Designer, Van Elslander and Associates Architects, 2016-17.
  14. Financial coordinator, Ryerson Artspace at the Gladstone 2015-16.

Films (select)

  1. Producer, curator. “Time Step.”  For *countermap. Upcoming.
  2. Co-curator (with Aziza Chaouni), editor, researcher, writer. “Modern West Africa: Recorded.” Short film at La Biennale de Venezia - Curator’s Special Project, Guests from the Future, 2023. For Aziza Chaouni Projects.

Film programmes (select)

  1. Jury member, Toronto Arab Film Festival, 2025. 
  2. Programmer, MADI X Shasha ‘Hijra’ Screening  at Musee Slaoui, Casablanca. 2022.  

Projects (select)

  1. Research Partnership, ‘Locating Colonial and Racist Spaces in “Canada.” 221A (Vancouver)- Principal Investigator: - a participatory mapping project (with the Architecture Lobby Tkaronto) 2020- 2023. 
  2. Project manager, researcher. Centre International du Commerce Extérieur de Dakar (Getty Conservation Institute “Keeping it Modern” grant). For Aziza Chaouni Projects. 2021 - 2023.
  3. Project manager,  researcher. Sidi Harazem Thermal Bath Complex (Getty Conservation Institute “Keeping it Modern” grant). 2019 - 2023 For Aziza Chaouni Projects. 
  4. Project manager, designer. Joudour Sahara Cultural Centre. 2019 - 2022. For Aziza Chaouni Projects.
  5. Project manager, researcher. Old Fourah Bay College (World Monuments Fund). For Aziza Chaouni Projects. 2022.
  6. Project manager, The Future of Ontario Place Project. For Aziza Chaouni/ University of Toronto (2020-21). 
  7. Viva Voce: An Election Procession. Short film. 2020. View at dsko.earth.
  8. Various private commissions and single-family residential projects. 

Awards

  1. Faculty-PhD Grant Award [with Andrew Herscher], Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan, 2026. 
  2. Institut du Monde Arabe (Arab World Institute Design) Impact Award - Affordable Anti-Seismic Prototype House, 2024. Schematic design (pro-bono) for Aziza Chaouni Projects, with Ines Smouni.  
  3. LafargeHolcim Award for Sustainable Construction Global Bronze Prize (project author with Aziza Chaouni Projects)- Joudour Sahara Cultural Centre, 2021.
  4. LafargeHolcim Award for Sustainable Construction Middle East + Africa Acknowledgement Prize (project author with Aziza Chaouni Projects)- Joudour Sahara Cultural Centre, 2021.
  5. Abraham Rogatnick Book Prize, 2019.
  6. Canadian Architect Student Award of Excellence (nomination), 2019.
  7. Blank Space’s Outer Space Competition Honourable Mention, 2019.
  8. UBC Faculty Project Selections 2016-19.

Grants

  1. Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, Ecologies of Culture, 2027-29.
  2. African Studies International Travel Grant, University of Michigan, 2026.
  3. Mophradat “Topical Assemblies,” 2025. With Omnia Sabry, Menna El-Shazly, Rana El Mahallawy, 2025.
  4. Architecture Student Research Grant, Taubman College, 2025. 
  5. Rackham International Language Grant, 2025. 
  6. Arts Integration Interdisciplinary Research (AiiR) Grant, University of Michigan, 2025.
  7. Canada Council for the Arts “Digital Now” Grant for countermap.land. With ARCCA  (Artist-Run Centres and Collectives Conference), 221A.  For The Architecture Lobby’s Tkaronto Chapter. 2021.
  8. Getty Conservation Institute “Keeping it Modern” Grant for Centre International du Commerce Extérieur de Dakar. With Aziza Chaouni Projects. 2020.  

Organizing 

  1. Steering committee, Ontario Place for All, 2023-24.
  2. Research and Education Coordinator, , The Architecture Lobby Tkaronto (TAL-TO) , 2021-22. 
  3. Founding member and chapter co-steward, The Architecture Lobby Tkaronto (TAL-TO) , 2020. 
  4. Outreach coordinator, For a Feminist Architecture (FaFa). 2018-19.


Exhibitions + Curation 

  1. Curatorial Consultant to Stefan Novakovic. Between Your Love and Mine. Detroit Month of Design, Detroit, 2026.
  2. Curator, Checkpoint Collective. Shortlisted proposal for the Canada Pavilion, La Biennale di Venezia, 2027.
  3. Exhibition Designer and Curatorial Consultant, with Łukasz Stanek and Michael Dziwornu. Intersections: The Architecture of Victor Adegbite and Charles Polonyi in Ghana. Wende Museum, Los Angeles, 2025–26.
  4. Exhibition Designer. Sidi Harazem Thermal Bath Station Exhibition. For the Getty Conservation Institute and Aziza Chaouni Projects, Sidi Harazem, Morocco. Exhibition stalled due to COVID-19.
  5. Co-curator and Exhibition Designer. SALON19. DUDOC, Vancouver, 2019.
  6. Project Designer. Restock: Central Bar at Interior Design Show West. Measured Architecture Inc., Vancouver, 2019.
  7. Guest Curator. Unfolding Landscape. Patron Art House, Vancouver, 2019.
  8. Project Feature. Gaining Altitude. Livingspace Interiors, Vancouver, 2019.
  9. Exhibition Project Selection. Ryerson University Year End Show. Paul H. Cocker Gallery, Toronto, 2014–16.

Publications/ texts 

  1. Salama, Dana. “Architecture Falls Silent.” In Call to Arms: Art, Activism and the Neoliberal Age. E-book. Peripheral Review, 2025.
  2. Argast, Andi, Dana Salama, Nicholas House, Sam Young, and Rithikha Rajamohan. “Networked Cooperative Ecosystems: New Labour Configurations & Opportunities for Mutualism.” Essay for V6A Labs, 2024.
  3. Salama, Dana. Co-editor and graphic designer. Keeping It Modern: Modern Heritage Under Pressure: Perspectives from the Global South. E-book. University of Toronto Press, 2023.
  4. Salama, Dana. Conservation Management Plan for Centre International du Commerce Extérieur de Dakar, Senegal. Prepared for the Getty Conservation Institute, 2022.
  5. Salama, Dana. Conservation Management Plan for Old Fourah Bay College, Freetown, Sierra Leone. Prepared for World Monuments Fund, 2022.
  6. Architecture Lobby Toronto Chapter. C-A-L-L + R-E-S-P-O-N-S-E: A Participatory Column by the Architecture Lobby’s Toronto Chapter for Azure Magazine: Exploring Definitions of Public Interest in the Architectural Field. Co-author, 2021.
  7. Salama, Dana, and Sarah Labahn. Beyond Two-Persons Per Room: Understanding the Cultural Variances of Housing Suitability in Canada. Research, writing, and publication design. Prepared for BC Housing, 2018.
  8. Salama, Dana, and Alena Pavan. Fa: A Feminist Architecture Zine. Co-founders and designers, 2018–19.

Talks/ Panels/ Workshops 

  1. Paper Presentation, “Modern Architecture at the Frontier: Earth, Empire, and the Temporalities of Militarization in Southern Algeria,” European Architectural History Network, 2026.
  2. Lecturer, “Fassi Cinemas and Their Resonances,” 3obour Online, The Arab British Centre, 2025.
  3. Guest Lecturer, “People Archives,” University of Toronto, 2024.
  4. Guest Lecturer, “*countermap,” University of Toronto, 2024.
  5. Workshop Co-Facilitator with Dana Prieto, “GROUND WORK,” SHEEEPschool, 2024.
  6. Guest Lecturer, “Design for the 99%: Conservation through Collaboration,” John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, University of Toronto, 2023.
  7. Speaker, “Reconciling Memories: Transcultural Dialogue in Africa,” University College Turin, 2023.
  8. Guest Lecturer and Panelist, “Developing Micro-Public Spaces in the Medina of Fez,” University of Toronto, 2023.
  9. Speaker, “On Hybrid Practice,” Intima2, 2023.
  10. Guest Lecturer, “Countermapping,” Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism, Carleton University, 2022.
  11. Speaker, “Reviving the Sidi Harazem Thermal Bath Complex,” Congress of Thermal Tourism, Ourense, Spain, 2022.
  12. Panelist, “Tangents,” University of British Columbia School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, 2021.
  13. Speaker, “Christina Battle: Connecting Thru Grasses,” Mackenzie Art Gallery, 2021.
  14. Speaker with Kareem Obey, “Deep City: Climate, Crisis, Democracy, and the Digital,” EPFL, 2021.
  15. Speaker, Toronto Room Journal Launch, 2019.

    Guest Critic

    1. Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan Ann-Arbor. 
    2. School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), Univeristy of British Columbia 
    3. John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, University of Toronto. 
    4. Department of Architectural Science, Toronto Metropolitan University. 
    5. School of Architecture, Waterloo University.

    Education 

    1. PhD student, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan Ann-Arbor, 2024- 2029 (anticipated). 
    2. Master of Architecture (honours), School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at The University of British Columbia, 2017-19. 
    3. Bachelor of Architectural Science (honours), Toronto Metropolitan University, 2012-16.