Karl is an architect, writer and commentator on the Middle East. He is Senior Associate Partner at PLP Architecture in London and co-author of Manifesto: Towards a New Humanism in Architecture. He has practiced architecture in London and Beirut, and taught for five years at the American University of Beirut.
Karl has written for a number of international publications and organisations, such as The Independent, Foreign Policy, Open Democracy, The Globe and Mail, The National, Al-Akhbar English, Now, Jadaliyya, Syria Deeply, Daily News Egypt, World Architecture News, Index on Censorship, Die Presse, Springerin, Mark Magazine, Novo, Urban Design, Glass, Blueprint, and An-nahar Cultural Supplement and he contributes regularly to the online publications such as Culture Wars. He also writes a weekly satirical column in Arabic at Now Lebanon.
He wrote a chapter on Density vs Sprawl in the The Future of Community: Reports of a Death Greatly Exaggerated.He also wrote a chapter entitled 'The Visionary City' in The Lure of the City: From Slums to Suburbs.
He has spoken on a range of issues such as art, architecture, urbanism and politics. He appears regularly on the BBC and other media outlets. He presented his argument for open borders in a TedX talk in London in 2011.
