Events Director
Founder at RAW-NYC Architects

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Raya is a member of the American Institute of Architects, a licensed Architect in the State of New York and a US Green Building Council Accredited Professional.

She received her BSC in Architectural Engineering from Baghdad University with distinctions, and an MS in Architectural studies from Massachusetts Institute of Technology 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 New York and Boston. Raya has more than 25 years of professional experience having worked in Germany, Boston and New York City for international and award-winning architectural practices. In 2010, she moved to Dubai as a design director and head of architecture. In 2011, RAYA ANI was nominated for the Middle-East Architect of the year Award and her work was highly commended by the jury. In 2012, she founded RAW-NYC Architects, an interdisciplinary architectural studio based in New York City and Dubai.

RAW-NYC is a collaborative practice providing visionary and uniquely crafted architectural buildings, interior spaces, and urban design solutions worldwide.

Raya’s work has been acknowledged in the US and internationally for excellence, including the Rotch traveling scholarship, Minosse International Prize for the Tsinghua University School of Fine Arts, SARANY award of honor for Science &Technology Center at Seton Hall University, and an AIA Award for the design of the B. F. Goodrich offices in Charlotte, North Carolina. In November 2013, she received two awards from the AIA-ME for her project in Iraq and Qatar.