He received a Bachelor of Architecture from the American University of Beirut in 1982, at the height of the Lebanese civil war,and left the same year to study in Japan on a Monbusho scholarship. At the University of Tokyo he developed an interest in Japanese philosophy of space, which he studied under Hiroshi Hara, and was also taught by Fumihiko Maki and Tadao Ando. He created several solo art performances and exhibitions in Tokyo while completing master and doctorate degrees in architecture.