Wael Al Awar is an architect and founding partner of Dubai- and Tokyo-based firm waiwai. He layers his interests in natural phenomena into an architecture of light, time, structure, and landscape that remains open to adaptation. Wael curated the UAE National Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2021, which was awarded the Golden Lion. He is creative director of architecture of the 2025 Bukhara Biennial, and is responsible for the masterplan of the renovation of Bukhara's historic district. He is currently working on a book titled Future Vernacular in the Middle East: Ideas for Architecture Practice, with Park Books.