H. Masud Taj
Adjunct Professor
H. Masud Taj writes of his studios/seminars in his “Recollections of an Unconventional Pedagogy”, in Carleton University’s 75th-anniversary volume. He also lectures on Muslim civilizations at the Centre for Initiatives in Education. He designed the War Memorial in Bombay, was mentored by Hassan Fathy in Egypt, worked with Charles Correa in India and conversed with Arthur Erickson at National Gallery of Canada. His books include:
– Embassy of Liminal Spaces synthesizing poetry, calligraphy and architecture as a permanent installation at the Canadian Chancery, India; inducted in the Library of Parliament, Ottawa.
– Nari Gandhi (apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright) Carleton University’s Archives & Research Collections
– Alphabestiary (exegesis by Bruce Meyer) featured at the International Festival of Authors, Toronto.
He went on a two-month round-the-world lecture-tour (2018). He featured in Portraits of Canadian Writers and was a Leacock Medal judge (2019-2021). He received the Capital Educators Award and CUSA Award in Teaching Excellence and featured on TIME, CBC and BBC.
Education
MArch (Post-Professional with Distinction) – Carleton University, 2004.
Certificate in University Teaching – Carleton University
British Council Structural Conservation Program, School of Planning & Architecture, New Delhi, India
GDArch (Professional) – Bandra School of Art, Bombay, 1982
Courses
ARCS 1105 – Studio 1
ARCS 2105 – Studio 2
ARCS 4106 – Studio 7
Summer Vertical Studios
ARCS 2105 – Studio 2
ARCS 3105 – Studio 4
ARCS 3106 – Studio 5
ARCS 4106 – Studio 7
HT Seminars
ARCH 4801A – Architectural Alterity (Venice and Islam)
ARCH 4505A – Six Degrees of Architecture (Italo Calvino)
Research
Taj, H Masud (2014) Toledean Testimony: Reconquesta, Architectural Convivencia and the Man from La Mancha”. (NY: Palgrave Macmillan). Featured: 2015 Faculty of Public Affairs Research Month, CU; 2016 International Festival of Authors, Ottawa; 2021: Islamic History Month Canada
Taj, H Masud (2004) Doctoring Strange Loves: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying Stanley and Love Monsters in Scholarship, Chess, Films & Architecture. ProQuest Carleton University.
Taj, H.Masud (1419H-1999) Facing The City: The Influence Of Qibla On Street-Line Orientation In Islamic Cities, Proceedings of Symposium on Mosque Architecture, College of Architecture &Planning, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia.
Research on Rahel (Qur’an bookstand) presented at: SVA, New York; Aga Khan University, England; NSA, Pakistan; CEPT, India and IIUM, Malaysia (2018).
Carleton University’s 2019 Cinquecento Celebration presented his cross-cultural research in a series of three talks:
1. Leonardo da Vinci: From Bagdad to Bayezid (a Faculty of Public Affairs Research / Islamic History Month event),
2. Vitruvian Man as Renaissance Selfie previewed by CBC and
3. Mirror Writing Mirrored as part of SmarTalk at the Cinquecento finale.
Practice
Registered Architect (India: Council of Architecture/CA/1983/07389). Independent Practice (Ongoing with projects in Mumbai, Delhi, and their vicinity.
LEED AP