Dr. Nairy Hampikian is a licensed architectural engineer and archaeologist specialising in heritage conservation and management — owner and manager of Hampikian for Architecture and Heritage Management in Cairo since 2005, with over 35 years of field experience across Islamic, Pharaonic, and Armenian heritage.
Born to an Armenian-Egyptian family — her grandparents arrived in Cairo from Constantinople in 1895 — she brings a uniquely bicultural lens to her work, connecting Cairo's Islamic heritage with the Armenian diaspora legacy woven into its fabric. Her doctoral research at UCLA produced the definitive study of the 13th-century Ayyubid al-Salihiyya complex, published as a monograph. She has taught architectural history and conservation at Misr International University and coordinated professional training workshops across Egypt.
“Authenticity at the level of the individual stone; habitability through a contemporary engineered core.”
Five degrees across three continents — architecture, archaeology, conservation theory.
PhD — Archaeology
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Dissertation: Al-Salihiyya Complex Through Time
MA — History of Islamic Architecture
American University in Cairo (AUC)
MA — History of Conservation & Armenian Architecture
Polytechnic Institute, Yerevan, Armenia
Conservation Diploma
ICCROM — International Centre for the Study of Preservation and Restoration, Rome
BSc — Architecture
Cairo University
PAAAE Member
Since 2015
Egyptian Syndicate of Engineers
Since —
Archnet Listed
Since —
Long-standing partnerships with national agencies, foreign institutes, and private foundations across the heritage field.
- 01American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE)
- 02German Archaeological Institute (DAI Cairo)
- 03Getty Museum, Los Angeles
- 04UNESCO Cairo Office
- 05Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities
- 06Armenian Ministry of Culture
- 07Urban Development Fund, Egypt
- 08Azza Fahmy Foundation