Suneela Ahmed is an architect, urbanist and an academic based in Karachi. Her interests lie in the analyzing the everyday adaptations of architectural and urban spaces at the grass root level by locals of the global south. She also dwells into the mitigation processes through the challenges of globalization, localization and informalization which gives shape to everyday spaces within an urban setting and how these processes form local and global identities. She has written various research papers, book chapters, newspaper articles and presented in conferences around these issues/ themes/ ideas. Her first solo authorship was published in October 2022 entitled “Urban Architecture and Local Spaces in Pakistan’’ by Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group.

Currently working as an Associate Professor and Head of Department at Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi she holds a professional degree in Architecture (2000), Masters in Urban Management from University of Canberra and a PhD in Urban Design (2016) from Oxford Brookes University, UK. Her doctoral dissertation entitled ‘Understanding localness of built form at the urban scale: investigating Maqamiat in the case of Karachi, Pakistan assessed what it means for a city to be local in the context of Karachi, being specific, having particular variables impacting the built form, but dealing with similar issues of identity crises as other formally colonized nations.

Suneela is a founding member of MAK Architects (https://www.mak-architects.com/) which has undertaken design of various architectural and interior design projects within Pakistan and in the UK. Suneela has research and teaching experience at undergraduate and post graduate levels both locally and internationally.  She has managed various professional aspects during this period, ranging from architectural and urban design consultancy, advocacy and outreach. Suneela is also the receiver of the Best Faculty Award from the Institute of Architecture and Planners of Pakistan, in 2017.