Roshan: What made you interested to come to Make for work experience?
Samira: I had a word with Neil Onions [from Beyond the Box] when we were at a conference. He said to me, “Send me your portfolio. There are amazing people at Make that would love to have you.” And I know some of my friends from the People’s Pavilion came to Make to build their models and have their workshops here.
I hadn’t heard much of Make, so I did some research on my own and then I got speaking to David Patterson, and then I went on from there.
Roshan: Do you want to tell us a bit more about yourself?
Samira: I was born in Thailand, so I’m half Moroccan, half Thai. I was raised in East London. With my architectural journey, I didn’t actually know I wanted to study architecture until quite late. I was an arts student. I loved drama. I loved all the creative subjects. When I was younger, I wanted to be an interior designer, and then I wanted to be a doctor for a bit, and then an actor; I’ve veered in loads of different directions. It was never linear. It was never, “I want to be this amazing architect,” until I went to Accelerate. I got into that programme when I was quite young, and then that introduced me into what architecture is, because I thought architecture was quite rigid, but they taught a more abstract way of viewing it.
Away from architecture, I do a lot of public speaking. I’ve won public speaking awards, and I’m a writer. I do a lot of poetry as well as spoken word poetry.
Kate: Now that you’ve got a year of university experience and know a bit more about the industry, how is your experience being in an architect's studio different to when you were doing People's Pavilion?
Samira: When I was at my previous work experience, we mainly did modelmaking. We didn't really touch on anything digital. It was just what you could do with your hands. It was really enjoyable for me at the time, because that's what I knew. I didn't know any software. But now, having gone to university and come back, I have a lot more understanding of how the architecture profession actually works as a whole. I know how there's the client and architect relationship. I think particularly at Make, what I realised is how close of a community you guys are, as workers in general and as people. I've been to other architectural firms and every company has a different vibe, different energy. You guys seem a lot more together, which is really nice to see.
I think this experience has challenged what I understand a lot more on how the process works, the different sorts of sectors and people that work in different areas. Architecture is so huge, there are so many other people that work within one project. When I was younger, I thought just one architect would work on one big project. I'd say that's probably what I've learned in respect to architecture.
Roshan: That’s the whole point of work experience, right?
Samira: Yeah, exactly. It’s different to what you do studies-wise. You might be learning very superfluous concepts at university, but then when you’re in practice, you could be working on doorknobs or figuring out the elevation of the toilets with windows in them – it could be the most random thing. But that’s the thing. I think this is probably the best type of exposure you’re going to get, and it does give you a bit of an upper hand later on when you’re looking for internships.
Kate: How was your first year of university?
Samira: It was good. I thought Cambridge would be very rigid in the way that they taught architecture, but to my shock, they weren’t. They were very free-flowing and abstract. For my first year, everything had to be hand-drawn. So that was a walk in the park for me, it was brilliant. I did English lit, sociology and art [A levels], so I was very centred around those subjects.
Work experience has helped a lot with understanding how important digital software actually is for communicating ideas and getting the clearest idea across. At the beginning, tutors didn’t talk about software at all. They didn’t teach us about Rhino or SketchUp. I’d heard of them and played around with them a bit but never used them properly. We don’t actually learn software at our university. There’s no course to teach you, you just have to pick it up on your own.
Roshan: What’s it like for your generation of upcoming architectural professionals? How are you guys embracing technology or otherwise?
Samira: I think it’s definitely quite difficult, especially when you come from an artistic background like I do. I believe your ideas and creativity can be easily expressed when you draw, when you sketch, when you paint. With digital software, I’m sure there are loads of capabilities with it, but you have to be very skilled in understanding how those technologies work, and it takes time to understand. In the time it takes you to draw a really beautiful facade, it would take you twice the time to learn how to create or do something on a digital software.
So I think for myself, or for my generation, it’s a lot harder to pick it up, especially when we’re introduced to it so late. But once we’re introduced to it, we’d be less likely to go back to drawing and sketching. When you can do things digitally, it’s cleaner and you have more precision. Personally, I quite enjoy drawing. And even now, when I’m learning different software, I always keep that drawing aspect of what I do, because not only does it show a bit of your character, but it also shows how you design. I feel like you can be a little bit more creative with your initial ideas. It’s a good way of thinking.
Roshan: How did you get involved in the People’s Pavilion?
Samira: I got involved in it through my art teacher, who would often tell us about different opportunities. There were four people in my art class and three of us wanted to be architects, so it was really easy to sketch and draw and talk about the idea.
We didn’t really know much about it. We knew that the prize would be to go to the Venice Biennale. We didn’t actually end up going because of COVID-19, but obviously the most important thing was that we got our structure built, which is a phenomenal thing.
I mentor sixth-form students to get into university, and my mentee is part of this year’s winning team of the People’s Pavilion in Tower Hamlets. It was a weird way of everything just coming full circle!
Kate: As someone who mentors students, what advice would you give to your younger self or people thinking of going into architecture?
Samira: For my younger self, I wouldn’t tell her to change anything, because all the mistakes I made got me to where I am. So I wouldn’t say change anything, but I’d say still – it sounds very cheesy – go with your heart, with the way in which you want to design. Do what feels right.
For the general generation that wants to study architecture, my advice would be to find the real reason why you want to study it. What is it that excites you about the degree and the whole subject? For me, I’m interested in the people that are affected by architecture. So I go through architecture with that lens, and that’s why I enjoy it so much.
Roshan: What kind of projects are you excited to work on in the future?
Samira: In sixth-form I was quite interested in psychology, sociology and the social sciences. I did a lot of research to do with the psychology between the architecture of space and how you feel within a space, but also in different institutions, like schools and hospitals – they give a certain atmosphere, which is created by architecture in small things: how light enters the room, how the room smells – all the five senses. I’d say I’m interested in intricate and intimate architecture that directly affects people. Architecture that really speaks to you.
I first learned about architecture in Thailand in my grandmother’s home, which isn’t a mansion; it’s a humble home. All those material details, the cracked marble floors, that space was the first time I interacted with architecture. Those small, little projects make the biggest difference for me.
Roshan: How have you found your time at Make?
Samira: Brilliant. It’s been the best experience in the sense that it’s given me an insight into what architecture actually is. And to have my own desk, to have my own set-up, to be able to do work and also be able to experience it – it’s really, really useful. Genuinely, it’s been great.
Samira is once again working with Beyond the Box, this time as an equity designer in a new initiative called My Palace Programme.