2–6 July 2023
UIA World Congress of Architects
Copenhagen, Denmark
The world congress of the International Union of Architects: the profession from every continent in one place, on sustainable futures.
(About) Sarhang Ibrahim Yazdeen Dana
An architect who stays on site
Barcelona, June 2026: during the UIA World Congress of Architects
I am an architect based in Duhok, north of Iraq, working to build a flexible and professional practice: one capable of connecting with very different people in order to make something that actually serves them.
I studied architecture at Eastern Mediterranean University in Famagusta and then took a master's in Architectural and Cultural Heritage at Hochschule Anhalt in Dessau. In between, I have designed and supervised houses, apartment buildings and a mixed-use complex around Duhok, run an eight-storey office tower from the client's side for two and a half years, and spent a long stretch on water infrastructure, treatment plants, an intake, a bridge extension, where the architecture is quieter but the consequences of a mistake are not.
Sarhang Dana · Architect, Duhok
PDF · you choose what goes in
Out of my comfort zone
(Range) Always adding to it
I have never wanted to be only one kind of architect.
Each project has asked for something I had not done before: a budget to carry, a schedule to hold, a system for a company to run on, and I have taken each one on. Growing is the point. I keep looking for what I do not know yet, and I am not afraid to step outside my comfort zone to learn it.
- 01Design
- 02Supervision
- 03Visualisation
- 04Animation
- 05Project management
- 06Site work
- 07Procurement
- 08Finance
- 09ERP systems, run and designed
- 10Gantt schedules
- 11Teaching Revit, in three languages
- 12And the next thing
On site, in person
(Photographs) 2020–2022
Still learning
(Congresses, fairs, forums) 2023–2026
I keep going to the rooms where building is argued about: to hear what the rest of the profession is working on, to meet the people doing it, and, more and more, to show what we are building here.
The world congresses of architects, the trade fair of the water industry, forums between governments and companies, a press conference beside our own intake: each one has widened what I think an architect can be responsible for, and each one I came back from with something to try in Duhok.
13–17 May 2024
IFAT
Munich, Germany
The world’s leading trade fair for water, sewage, waste and raw materials management: where the water industry shows what comes next, and where I went looking for it.
October 2024
Iraq and Romania, in business
Romania
An event organised by the Iraqi and Romanian governments to build business between the two countries. It took me to a plant that turns waste into electricity, and I led the process of bringing that multi-million-dollar technology to Iraq.
28 June – 2 July 2026
UIA World Congress of Architects
Barcelona, Spain
Back at the world congress, this time under the theme “Becoming. Architectures for a planet in transition.”
October 2026
Czech Water Forum
Baghdad, Iraq
A forum we sponsored. We shared our technologies with Czech companies, how to get water out of harsh conditions, and talked about how to work together. I presented the Khanke intake.
October 2026
Press conference: Khanke water intake
Khanke, Duhok
On the shore of the lake, beside the intake: the project, and the world firsts it holds. The project →
Work experience
2017–present
Mar 2023 – now
Senior Architect Engineer
Corridor, Northlight Holding (Duhok) Tower
- Administrative management responsibilities
- In charge of maintaining the building
Sep 2024 – Apr 2026
General Supervisor
Lavand Company, Khanke Intake & Faida Floating Bridge Extension
- Managing and supervising the total budget of the project
- In charge of international relations and buying products
- Architectural design, 3D visualisation and project animation
Aug – Dec 2025
Senior Architect Engineer
Lavand Company, Water Treatment Plant, Semel
- Architectural design, 3D visualisation and project animation
- Developing the Gantt schedule and producing the final project report
- Assisting in preparing the BoQ
Sep 2020 – Mar 2023
General Project Manager
Northlight Holding, Northlight Tower, Duhok
- Owner's representative overseeing an eight-storey office building
- Supervised construction; coordinated contractor and consultant teams
- Managed all government approvals and project procedures
2019–2022
Senior Architect Engineer
Lavand Company, Batufa Water Treatment Plant
- Architectural design, 3D visualisation and project animation
2019–2022
Design & Supervision, private practice
Duhok, Domiz and Khanke
- Mixed-use complex in the Domiz district
- Five-storey apartment building in Khanke
- A 350 m² villa in Khanke
2018–2019
Tutor: Autodesk Revit
Independent, Duhok
- Taught Autodesk Revit in three languages
Jan – Feb 2017
Intern
GIZ
- Took part in landscape design
Education
2015–2024
2022–2024 · Dessau, Germany
Master of Architectural
and Cultural Heritage
Hochschule Anhalt
2015–2020 · Famagusta, Cyprus
Bachelor of
Architecture
Eastern Mediterranean University
Autodesk CAD Drafter · Member, Kurdistan Engineers Union: Degree: Assistant, Specialty: Architectural Engineering
Software
Tools I actually use
Drawing and BIM
- Autodesk RevitModels, parametric families, construction sets
- AutoCADPlans, details and site drawings
- SketchUpMassing and quick studies
Visualisation
- LumionRenders and walkthroughs
Graphics
- PhotoshopPost-production
- IllustratorDiagrams and graphics
- InDesignSheets, reports and portfolios
Film
- Premiere ProProject films
- After EffectsMotion and titles
- DaVinci ResolveEditing and colour grading
Office
- Microsoft OfficeReports, bills of quantities, schedules
Languages
Five, on site and in meetings
Kurdish , mother tongue
Arabic , excellent
English , excellent
German , great
Turkish , good
Academic references
On request
References are available upon request.
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Born in Duhok, Iraq
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Languages
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Degrees: Cyprus and Germany
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Software in daily use