A new study of Soho

His book, From Frame to Screen: Soho, was compiled this year as part of his MA in Architectural and Urban Design and it has been so well received that it is now on display at the Photographers' Gallery Bookshop in Soho.

Akrem, who graduates next month (July), said: “My study is intended to help me practice my ability to analyse public places in order to explore complex urban issues; to find spaces that provide experiences that people might be missing under the pressures of everyday life.”

He studied the minutiae of the district: “…small and often overlooked details of the urban fabric and of the use or lack of use of urban spaces. I believe these details can give us important information about how cities work and how we construct and use them. They offer different ways of looking at a city, which can reveal both history and its current state and perhaps give indications for its future development.”

Hidden corners of Soho

Akrem El-Athram

Akrem came to the UK after being given a scholarship from the Libyan government as one of the best students in the country: “I chose the University of Brighton because It was the best option and I loved the city before even moving there.”

Akrem, 28 and originally from Libya, said of his university course: “My MA has changed the way that I understand architecture in general and urbanism in particular. I became focused on the invisibility, the psychological term, of the urban experience more than the physical dimensions of it.”

Of his time in Brighton, he said: “I loved the university and city. Brighton is such an inspirational place, a place where you can enjoy the sense of liberty and the multi-cultural community. In Brighton, I did not feel I was alone, I always felt as if I belonged to a unit.”