Maath Al Alousi was born in the Al Adhamiya area of Baghdad in 1938, where he learnt to paint from his father. His interests turned to architecture and in the late 1950s he moved to Turkey where he studied at the Middle East Technical University, in Ankara, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree c1961. During this period he appears to have spent time gaining part-time practical experience, as an architectural assistant within the practice of Alfred Oswald, in Frankfurt. Alousi also managed to spend time travelling in Europe, visiting architectural sites across Italy and Greece. After graduation, he returned to Iraq and in 1961 joined the Ministry of Housing, in Bagdad, where he worked as a job architect, contributing to projects including the urban development of the town of Al-Thawra and a West Baghdad housing project. In September 1963 he was dispatched for post-graduate studies, enrolling on the newly-formed ‘Educational Building’ course at the Architectural Association’s Department of Tropical Studies, in London. Immediately upon his return to Iraq in 1964, Alousi was appointed the Head of the Educational Building Department within the Ministry of Works. In parallel, Alousi also appears to have been a partner with ‘Iraq Consult’, the Baghdad office founded by Rifat Chadirji, Abdullah Ihsan Kamil and Ihsan Sherzad. This arrangement continued until the early 1970s, when Aloussi established his own practice, opening a branch in Beirut, in 1974, and operating, at its peak, 9 regional offices across the Middle East. Amongst his architectural work, perhaps his most significant are the large-scale development plans for Haifa Street, central Baghdad (1980-84), a major urban renewal project for the city. Other important projects include his UAE Embassy in Muscat, Oman (1986), and his Cube House (1991) – the latter succeeding in producing a remarkably harmonious merger of contemporary design and traditional forms and spaces. Alongside his architectural work, Aloussi also practices as an artist and a photographer, contributing to numerous high-profile exhibitions at locations including the National Museum of Art (Gulbenkian Hall), Baghdad, and galleries in Beirut, London, Vienna and St. Petersburg. His personal art collection has been described by Christies as ‘one of the most impressive and comprehensive private collections of Iraqi Modern Art.’ Aloussi is also deeply involved in the literary world, having been on the editorial board of ‘Imara Magazine’ (1987-1989) and editor for ‘Nanar,’ journal of the Iraqi Architect Society (c1966). His own published works, include ‘Nostos, a Tale of a Street in Baghdad’ (2012), ‘Visual Narrative of an Arab Architect’ (2015) and ‘Topos, a Tale of Time and Place’ (2017). He has lectured at the Higher Institute of Technology and the University of Technology, in Baghdad, and was both a member of the Baghdad Heritage Preservation Committee from 1986-1989 and the UN HABITAT High-Level Advisory Panel for the Reconstruction of Iraq in the early 2000s. Maath Al Alousi was awarded the Tamayouz Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. Unfortunately, Alousi’s practice archives were lost due to the wars in Iraq and Lebanon, where his practices were based.

Sources

• Architectural Association Council Minutes, 16th March, 1964. AA Archives
• Architectural Association Student Register 1945-1972, AA Archives
• Architectural Association Diploma Roll Book, 1924-1963, AA Archives
• Architectural Association Student Records, Registrar’s Office. AA Archives
• Alousi, M., Topos, a Tale of Time and Place, Verlak, 2017
• Alousi, M., Visual Narrative of an Arab Architect, Al-Adib Publishing, 2015
• Aousi, M., Nostos, a Tale of a Street in Baghdad, Rimal Publication 2012
• Alousi, M. יומיאת בצריה למעמאר ערבי Third World Centre for Research and Publishing, 1983.
• Alousi Associates and Reinicke Consulting (eds) [pamphlet]. Haifa Street Development. 1985. Baghdad: Amanat al-Assima.
• Alousi Associates and Reinicke Consulting (eds) [book]. Haifa Street Development. 1985. Baghdad: Amanat al-Assima.
• Tamayouz Excellence Award, ‘Iraqi Architect Artist and Author Maath Alousi is the recipient of the 2018 Tamayouz Lifetime Achievement Award for Architecture’. Accessed 2nd September, 2025: https://tamayouz-award.com/iraqi-architect-artist-and-author-maath-alousi-is-the-recipient-of-the-2018-tamayouz-lifetime-achievement-award-for-architecture/
• ‘Maath Al-Alousi: Profile’, Accessed 2nd September 2025: http://www.maathalousi.com/
• Christie’s, ‘Modern & Contemporary Arab, Iranian & Turkish Art Including Masterpieces from The Pharos Art Collection & From The Maath Alousi Collection’, 2014. Accessed 2nd September 2025: https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5779762
• Ibrahimi Collection: Cultural Enterprise, ‘Maath Al-Alousi (1938)’. Accessed 2nd September 2025: https://www.ibrahimicollection.com/node/1916
• Personal correspondence with Maath Alousi, 2nd September 2025.