Hasna Sal received a diploma with distinction in journalism from the London School of Journalism before studying architecture at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, Massachusetts. She practiced architecture at Schwerdt Design Group in Kansas and taught design at the University of Kansas. Sal created her firm Glass Concepts 360 in 2015 and began her professional career as public art architect specialized in glass. Sal published her first book ‘Poems in Glass’ in 2021; this book is a hybrid work melding memoir, poetry, and advocacy, using the metaphor and medium of glass to explore trauma, healing, and social justice.
Sal graduated with a master’s degree in design studies from Harvard University in 2025. She published her second book ‘ Vembanad Lake and Its Untold Stories : Ecological Fragility, Food Sovereignty and Sustenance Habitability’ in June 2025; this book is a transdisciplinary narrative that weaves together oral testimonies, ecological data, and historical analysis to reveal the lived experiences and environmental transformations of South India’s largest wetland. Sal is currently faculty lecturer at University of Miami School of Architecture and working on a competition she won to create a large-scale installation on Benton Boulevard bridge in Kansas City MO.
For her research as Associate at Harvard Mittal Institute, Sal is focussing on the iconic houseboats of Kerala, once humble barges navigating the labyrinthine backwaters of VembanadLake, now transformed into powerful cultural and economic symbols. Their evolution from utilitarian vessels into floating hotels mirrors the wider story of Kerala’s integration into the global tourism industry- a narrative shaped by nostalgia, commodification and profound socio- ecological consequences.
