Amir Habibullah is a Lecturer (on academic leave) at King Abdul-Aziz University, Jeddah Saudi Arabia and a Ph.D. Candidate in Landscape Architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

His current research focuses on the contemporary Islamic gardens and landscapes. In his dissertation, he explores the question of what happens to the Islamic garden as an idea with multiple meanings when it crosses its geographical boundaries moving from its local and regional context to global context. He asks how designers use Islamic tradition and culture as a medium for identity and meaning construction of Islamic gardens.

Amir’s other research interest include cultural and heritage studies and water management systems. In his Master thesis, he explored the traditional rainwater harvesting systems and examined their applicability in the modern arid regions citing the historical city of Jeddah, a world heritage site.

Amir is a practicing landscape Architect working primarily on residential and urban landscape projects. He is the Co-Founder of EcoFoci.com an Arabic online platform that promotes the Landscape Architecture profession in the Middle East through advocacy, communication, and education.