She graduated from the Architectural Association School of Architecture and the Royal College of Art in London. She is also the author of several books on Islamic and Yemeni architecture. Salma Damluji's work has been recognised with numerous awards, including the Holcim Award for Sustainable Construction Middle East Africa Silver in 2020. Born in Beirut to a Lebanese mother and an Iraqi father, she studied architecture with Hassan Fathy and learned to make local materials the primary resource for her work.
She discovered Yemen in 1980 during a mission for the UN. Since 2005, she has been working to renovate the country's heritage jewels: renovation of the Al-Fasih Mosque in Aynat, the Husn Fort in Qarn Majid, south of Dawan city, the Rabat Ba'Sham residential complex in Chibam, the Qu'aiti Palace & Museum in Moukalla, etc.
Her work is mostly funded by grants from the British Council's Cultural Protection Fund and the Cultural Emergency Response of the Dutch Prince Claus Fund. Two new projects will soon be launched, one of which will be financed by the Aliph Foundation for the Protection of Heritage to which Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates contribute.
The architect uses only original materials in his restoration work. "I refuse to allow a single drop of cement to be used in the work" - Salma Damluji for online media Arab News.
Photo: Masna'at U'rah, Daw'an, Hadramaut Governorate, Yemen, 2012. Copyrights: Daw'an Mud Brick Architecture Foundation.