MSI Press Blog

  Today's book back story is about The Subversive Utopia by Dr. Yasir Sakr. From the publisher: In early 2006, through a mutual friend, while living in Jordan, the owners of MSI Press (at that time, not yet an incorporated business) met a young professor of architecture, Dr. Yasir Sakr, at his home where his young son, Abdelrahim, was present. Abdelrahim was about five years old and pretty much the same as 5-year-olds everywhere.  Yasir had a book idea, based on his dissertation. The topic was to share research he had accomplished on the National Jewish architectural style in Jerusalem and the influence of Louis Kahn, an American architect born in Estonia when that country was part of Russia and transported to the US when his parents emigrated and whose design for the Hurva Synagogue, while never adopted did influence subsequent design for the synagogue and other sacred buildings.  The typesetting of the book was a challenge, fitting immense drawings into small book pages, especia

  MSI Press authors are located all over the world. Getting to know the authors can also mean getting to know a new part of the world. We will be sharing this information on a regular basis. Follow us and map our authors' locations. Yasir Sakr, author of  The Subversive Utopia ,  lives in Amman, Jordan, where he teaches architecture at one of the many universities there.  Here is some information about Amman.  Amman  ( English:  / ə ˈ m ɑː n / ;  Arabic :  عَمَّان ,  ʿAmmān   pronounced  [ʕamːaːn] ) [5] [6]  is the capital and the largest city of  Jordan , and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. [7]  With a population of 4,061,150 as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's  primate city  and is the  largest city  in the  Levant  region, the  fifth-largest city  in the  Arab world , and the  ninth-largest metropolitan area  in the  Middle East . [8] The earliest evidence of settlement in Amman dates to the 8th millennium BC, in a Neolithic site known as  'Ain Ghaz

  A practicing architect since 1983, Yasr (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania; M. S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology; B.S., University of Jordan) is an international consultant in architectural design and planning, who has won top awards in several design competitions.  He is currently an urban development strategist leading multi-disciplinary teams of international consultants in the urban re-development of the central area of the Holy City of  Makka, KSA. Previously, he was assistant professor at the Department of Architecture at the Jordan and Petra Universities and a visiting scholar at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and the American Archaeological School in Jerusalem. Professor Sakr has lectured and published widely on architectural education, design theory, and history. For posts about Yasir and his book, click HERE . Several years ago, Dr. Betty Lou Leaver, Managing Editor of MSI Press, visited Jordan on a business trip and visited with Yasir at his home on

  Excerpt from  The Subversive Utopia   by Yasir Sakr - Preface It’s been 35 years since, as an undergraduate student, I first toured the new Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem. As I walked its streets, observing its new architecture and urban space, the Quarter simultaneously attracted and alienated, impressing upon me a mysterious schizophrenic perception. For many years I was unable to explain this contradictory experience. Little did I know then that 10 years later, in 1988, my new job as an archivist in the Louis Kahn Collection at the University of Pennsylvania would yield the clues I needed to understand the Quarter’s ambiguous allure. I could not have predicted then that I would one day articulate the experience of the Jewish Quarter in such a way that it would shape its perceptions by Israeli architects and scholars among others. It’s been almost 20 years since I finished my PHD dissertation at the School of Architecture, University of Pennsylvania. Following i

  CB and the late Carl Leaver, MSI Press authors Meet our author-dads who have written absolutely splendid books for fathers (and others) about all sorts of topics! (Some are no longer with us, but their works in life and in literature live on.) And, yes, of course, we continue to sell their books. Wally Amidon (deceased) The Musings of a South Carolina Yankee Read MSI blog posts about Wally . TL Brink How to Argue with an Atheist Read more posts about TL Brink  HERE . Dave Brown (co-author) One Simple Text.. KOPS-FETRHLING.INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARD LEGACY. AWARD: INSPIRATION/MOTIVATION HOLLYWOOD BOOK FESTIVAL FINALIST Read MSI Press blog posts about Dave  HERE . Dr. Frederic Craigie Weekly Soul AMERICAN BOOKFEST BEST BOOK AWARD FINALIST; INSPIRATION BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD GOLD: MIND, BODY, SPIRIT READER VIEWS LITERARY AWARDS SILVER: MIND/BODY/SPIRIT READER VIEWS LITERARY AWARDS SILVER: RELIGION KOPS-FETHERLING INTERNATIONAL BOOKS AWARDS HONORABLE MENTIONN: INSPIRATION/MOTIVATION Read M