Hossein Nakhaei

Hossein Nakhaei is a Ph.D. student in the history of art and architecture department at the University of Pittsburgh. After working as an interior architect for several years, he brought his architectural training and professional experience to the field of architectural history with a focus on the interior spaces of medieval buildings in the Persianate world. His major interest is linking museum objects with their spatial contexts, aiming to activate “standalone art objects” in museums through fresh narratives, computer technologies, and reparation practices. His current project at Pitt orients toward shifting perceptions of Persian luster tiles from isolated museum objects to essential elements of space-making practices in Persian architecture in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. 

Hossein holds a Bachelor of Architecture and two Master’s degrees in architectural studies and history of art and architecture. His recent MA thesis entitled “A Lustrous Shrine: Recontextualizing luster tiles of Ali b. Ja'far shrine in Qum” won the 2023 Early Modern Worlds Biennial Graduate Essay Prize at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also the author of the book The Great Mosque of Varamin: Recognizing the Process of Formation and Evolution, which offers a new interpretation of the building's history, original form, and function. This book received the 12th Farabi International Award on the Humanities and Islamic Studies in 2021.