Our HerCampus Celebrity for this week is Feras Alsaggaff, a 5th year architecture major who serves as President for PhilaU’s Habitat for Humanity chapter, as well as for the International Student Association (an organization that holds on-campus events to help international students transition), worked as an RA in Ronson for a year, and was even part of the Royal Ram Court team this year.
Originally from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Feras moved to the US at 18, where he stayed with a host family in Fresno, California. He described the transition as rough, but says that he learned a lot from the experience, including how to send mail and catch a bus! He also talked about how supportive and trusting everyone he met was, and the impact of people seeing potential in him. Coming from an area of the world where in Feras’ words, “…art is not a thing…”, Feras wanted to explore the fields of construction and design, as well as experience the East Coast architecture scene, which brought him to Philadelphia University’s Architecture program, where he is today.
Five years later, Feras talks about how he finds inspiration when working on architecture projects, mentioning being exposed to the field from an early age, as his father was a construction manager in Saudi Arabia. He also talked about how he takes inspiration from his culture and history – and not just his own history, but also local history – when it comes to projects. Currently he’s working on one that’s closely tied to his home culture and focuses on designing a skyscraper for the eVolo Skyscraper competition (an annual high-rise design competition sponsored by eVolo Magazine) to accommodate the two million plus visitors who travel to Mecca every year for Hajj, an annual pilgrimage that is essential to the Islamic religion. However, the most educational project he’s worked on so far was one that he did for Design 8 Studio where he and his partners designed a research lab for water desalination (the process of purifying and removing salt particles from water). Feras says that this particular project gave him insight on technical concepts such as HVAC design and taught him essential industry traits such as teamwork
On top of Feras’ busy life as an architecture student, he is also president of the PhilaU chapter of Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit Christian organization that works with volunteers to construct houses for low income families worldwide. Feras began as the education coordinator for the chapter his second year at PhilaU, and in the time that he’s been serving as president since then, he’s been working on re-structuring the club to make sure it’s as organized, efficient, and effective as possible. He also heads up advocacy and fundraising, and coordinates one “build day” each semester where the group actually goes out into the local Philadelphia area to help with housing construction. In addition, Feras also deals with the organization coordinators on a regular basis to provide open opportunities for anyone who is interested in volunteering.
While I was wrapping up my interview with Feras by talking about what his post-graduation plans were (which include getting his architecture license and moving to another unfamiliar place to continue his professional and personal growth), it became apparent how much his time at PhilaU has fostered his mentoring side. His ultimate goal is to give young adults in Saudi Arabia who like him, have a passion for design, the chance to learn the trade of architecture in their own country by eventually returning to his native country to become a college professor.