My architectural experience begins beyond my baccalaureate and connects intimate memories of self-expression through design and art. As an Indian non-binary artist, I have always been intrigued by identity, expression, and its translation to the built environment. Architecture becomes a medium of culture: from designing a co-housing masterplan for a ‘neo-Venice’ with spaces for artistic, sexual, and gender expression to a ‘free-masonesque cult-temple-brick-factory’ that has the intention to decolonise the west and embrace intersectionality.
Such themes have been integral to my experience designing inclusive spaces that draw on my personal and surrounding observations from volunteering at local charity shops, working as a waiter and bartender, and extracurriculars starting and leading NHSF Birmingham City University Hindu Society alongside university. Such themes matter because, as Donna Haraway writes, “it matters what stories we tell to tell other stories with, it matters what concepts we think to think other concepts with” (Donna Haraway, 2019).
