Ola Hassanain

Ola Hassanain

Spatial Literacy and Urban Strategies

Political imaginaries, social Justice, socio-spatial coalitions, spatial justiice, Community development, anti-racism, urban ecology, resistance

Ola Hassanain trained her focus on the subtle politics of space—namely, how built spaces react to and reinforce violence from state entities, which in turn, creates a built environment that reflects, responds to, regulates the lives of those who inhabit it. Her most recent work explores an idea of “space as discourse,” an expanded notion of space that encompasses political and environmental questions. Her work tries to develop a spatial vocabulary that follows how ruptures presented by 'political events', make it possible to aspire to new kind of ecologies. Ola's development of critical spatial practice is party informed by her post-academic training which includes an ongoing Ph.D. in Practice candidacy at the Academy of Fine Art 2017- ongoing, a BAK fellowship 2017-2018, and teaching at HKU University of the Arts Utrecht, Sandberg Institute amongst other collaborations including Chicago Architecture Biennale and the Sharjah Architecture Triennale.