Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) and LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP)
A Multidisciplinary Architect and Urban Designer with more than 25 years of professional experience having worked in Baghdad, Boston, Dubai, Germany, and New York City for various architectural firms including her own practice, RAW-NYC. In 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, she was named one of the top most powerful and influential architects in the Middle East. Raya Ani won the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Middle East election to become the 2017 President of the AIA- Middle East Chapter. She received her BSC in Architectural Engineering from Baghdad University with distinctions, and an MS in Architectural Studies from MIT where she was awarded the Harvard/MIT Aga Khan Scholarship. She has taught urban and architectural design studios and served as a guest critic at a number of leading architectural schools in Boston, Dubai and New York. Raya Ani is a licensed architect in the State of New York and a US Green Building Council Accredited Professional.
Raya has designed the first green public school in New York City and two LEED-certified residential towers in Battery Park City. In 2010, she moved to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and worked for a large architectural firm in Dubai for two years. In 2012, she founded RAW-NYC Architects, an interdisciplinary architectural studio based in New York City and established the Dubai office in 2014. In 2013, she received the AIA-ME honor award for her visionary work on the marshes of southern Iraq as well as a merit award for her design of Aspire Sports Complex in Qatar. In 2014, Her Aspire Sports Complex project received the Leisure Project of the Year Award by Middle East Architect. In 2015, one of RAW-NYC Architects' commercial projects was named the "most innovative commercial structure" in Build Magazine's Architecture Awards.
In 2016, she was selected as one of five inspiring and powerful personalities in the world by Black Tomato travel and Cadillac and she represented the MENA region. In the same year, she was shortlisted from a list of 43 leading women architects in New York to enter an international design competition to convert a women's prison to an International Hub for Women's Empowerment in Manhattan. In addition, Raya led the RAW-NYC team to design a master plan for Liberland, a 7 square kilometer micronation between Croatia and Serbia. Her vision for Liberland won the first place and the work was widely published. In 2017, her design of Bamiyan Cultural Center in Afghanistan won a Merit Award at the AIA International Region Design Awards in Prague.
Raya Ani is a frequent guest speaker at international architectural conferences including Harvard Arab conference. In 2017, she was invited to speak at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Women in Design in Denver, Colorado and the Center of Architecture in New York City. She was also invited to speak at the Iraqi Embassy in Vienna and by architectural departments at universities across the world including Dubai, India, London, Qatar, and the US. Moreover, she was the conference chair for 10,958 DAYS into the Future conference by AIA Middle East in Sharjah.
Her interest and research focus on future living, future cities, economical and social sustainability and the intersection between technology, innovation and sustainability. In 2019, she was elevated to the College of Fellows by the AIA in the category of Design and was nominated for this elevation by the AIA- New York Chapter.
"Fellowship is bestowed by the Institute on AIA-member who are most distinguished and influential and who have made significant contributions to the profession and society and who exemplify architectural excellence."