Saadia Rais
Education
Virginia Tech, Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy (with a minor in Biology)
Virginia Tech, Master of Science in Sociology (with a concentration in Gender and Sexuality Studies)
University of Georgia, College of Environment and Design, Master of Landscape Architecture
University of Virginia, PhD in the Constructed Environment (Current Student)
Biography
Saadia Rais is a landscape designer, sociologist, and artist. She earned her Master of Landscape Architecture degree from University of Georgia College of Environment + Design (2020), while working for the Center for Community Design & Preservation. She holds a Master of Science degree in Sociology (2016) with a concentration in Gender & Sexuality studies, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy (2013) with a minor in Biology from Virginia Tech. Saadia practiced as a landscape designer for several years in Houston, Richmond, Charlottesville, and the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, specializing in high-end residential and institutional design. She joined the UVA A-School as a Ph.D. student in 2024.
Saadia’s MLA thesis "Modernism Reconsidered" used the residence of Modernist landscape architect James Rose as a case study to examine the definition of modernism within the discipline of landscape architecture. Saadia lived and worked at the residence in 2018, now the James Rose Center for Landscape Architectural Research & Design. She remastered a 1986 documentary by Rose titled "The Heavenly Environment", released in tandem with his book by the same title. She also produced a short film there exploring Rose's concept of the heavenly environment. Rais continues to engage in scholarship on James Rose, especially in her dissertation research.
Saadia’s MS Sociology thesis consists of a documentary video and writings discussing how first-generation immigrants use digital communications technology to form their identities and communities within the diaspora. The documentary includes oral histories from first-generation Bangladeshi Americans in her community.
In her free time, Saadia enjoys hiking, foraging, trail running, watching and creating films, sketching, and exploring cities on foot or on bike. She is heavily involved in the underground music scene - she performs in a solo multimedia performance art ambient project, as well as in a no-wave band as vocalist, guitarist, and synth player. She often collaborates with musicians and dancers to choreograph site-specific land-based performances.
