Preservation Across Cultures: Discovering El Zaguán
A Salon Talk by HSFF Trades Intern Mulham Alkharboutli
Thursday, September 25, 3pm
Thaw Education Center
553 Canyon Road
ABOUT THE SALON
Free for Members, $10 for non-members
Join Mulham Alkharboutli, an architect from Syria with a Master of Science in Historic Preservation from the University of Notre Dame, as he shares his experience as a 2025 Faith and John Gaw Meem Preservation Trades Intern with the Historic Santa Fe Foundation. Building on his academic and professional journey, Mulham developed a framework for approaching and documenting historic buildings that bridges technical craft with cultural meaning. through the documenting the Conservation of the Church of S. Andrea Apostolo in Orani, Sardinia, to researching adobe barns in southern New Mexico During his internship, he turned this framework toward the north side of El Zaguán, particularly the little-studied garages area. With very little surviving evidence of its history, Mulham worked on preliminary archaeological investigation, documentation, and archival research, Followed by an intervention under the guidance of Jacob Sisneros. These efforts, combined with hands-on carpentry, uncovered new layers of Santa Fe’s history and gave tangible form to preservation as both material repair and cultural interpretation.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Mulham Alkharboutli is an architect and preservationist from Syria. He holds a Master of Science in Historic Preservation from the University of Notre Dame and a Master’s in Theory and History of Architecture from Damascus University. In Syria, he founded metmar studio, a practice dedicated to earthen architecture, education, and craft. Today, metmar studio serves as a bridge between cultures, connecting Levantine and Southwestern traditions. In New Mexico, Mulham has worked under the master conservator Pat Taylor in Mesilla, and his ongoing projects investigate the dialogue between Syrian earthen architecture and the adobe heritage of the American Southwest. Through writing and design practice, Mulham seeks to uncover the shared wisdom of traditional building cultures across geographies, while reimagining their relevance for contemporary communities.
