In Touch With The Future

Takbir Fatima is an architect with a highly developed social conscience, a trait that reflects in the kind of work she tends to gravitate to

How did formal education impact your career?

TF: In the field of architecture, I believe education is as important as experience, and something that can’t be compromised. I have wanted to be an architect since I was in school in Al-Khobar (Saudi Arabia). I moved to my birthplace, Hyderabad, and did my BArch from CSIIT School of Architecture and Planning, Secunderabad. From day one, we were asked to think of ourselves as architects, and being an architect became an integral part of my personality. I began working during my undergraduate studies, and continued to work for a few years under different architects in Hyderabad and Mumbai. I was fortunate to receive a hands-on kind of education in the places I worked at. One of my mentors encouraged me to study further, and I did MArch in Architecture + Urbanism in the Design Research Lab at the Architectural Association in London, one of the most prestigious schools of architecture in the world. The DRL opened up my mind to new ways of thinking and doing, and introduced me to design research. Collaboration was an important part of our work, as was innovation using computational tools and generative design. Learning for an architect does not end with their formal education; it continues into professional life. Every new project becomes an opportunity to learn. I try to apply the methods and ways of thinking I learned at the DRL to my practice today. It’s more of an ongoing search rather than simply an architectural consultancy firm.

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