Joelle Deeb is an architect and researcher whose work explores the intersection of Bordering water systems, urban development, and cultural heritage. In 2024, she founded and now leads The Water Commons Archives-Syria, a research initiative aimed at documenting Syria’s water-bordering systems to support urban studies and educational outreach. Her research highlights the shifting spatial dynamics of water systems and their profound influence on the sociocultural landscape of the Middle East.

Since 2023, Joelle has been at the forefront of developing the Orontes River Repository, an archive dedicated to exploring the socio-environmental challenges of the river basin’s water resources. Through tools like cartographic mapping and experimental documentation, her work illuminates the erosion of collective memory while reimagining spatial practices as acts of cultural reflection and continuity.

Her contributions have been featured on platforms such as Afikra, Daftar Journal, and MIT Thresholds 50. Recognized with the 2023 International Tamayouz Excellence Award for her thesis and the 2024 Ettijahat Research Grant, Joelle continues to bridge fieldwork, design, and community engagement in her pursuit of meaningful and contextually rooted research