QAMELLIAH NASSIR
Portrait courtesy of Qamelliah Nassir.
First Class MA (Hons) Architecture at the University of Edinburgh
A First Class Part 1 Architecture Graduate from the University of Edinburgh, Qamelliah Nassir began architecture school with dreams of breathing life into steel and glass, to be a part of a legacy that sought to create sustainable spaces for those who enter.
Prior to completing her undergraduate degree, Qamelliah worked as a design assistant at Bjarke Ingels Group in Copenhagen, Denmark for six months.
She is currently particularly interested in landscape architectural theories and discourses that question the idea of human dominance on the landscape. Her awareness of the idea of Landscape began during the first semester of her 3rd year, in an Anthropocene centered unit taught by Benek Cincik, where she learnt more of scale, human intervention and infrastructure than she had during the previous years of Architecture school. Her project explored the relationship between geology, ecology and architecture, through conceiving architectural design as a technological and social- machine that operates in response to the Anthropocene conditions.
Fate, Architecture and Trusting the Process
What inspired you to pursue architecture?
When I was 14, I wanted to do fashion and textiles, but was mistakenly placed in the Design and Technology class. During those first few weeks, I was lost. Design was a territory so unfamiliar, there was no right answer to the work I was doing in class and no fixed method I could come up with. My teacher taught us of the different art movements, the different drawing techniques and methods of representation and I was hooked. Instead of me choosing the path of Architecture and design, I like to think it chose me.
As a child I used to love reading, I still do. My favourite books would be ones where the author would build literal worlds, cities for the characters to wander and in my mind, I could see it. I saw Architecture in the written word, in the homes I lived in and those I would walk by on the way home from school. I chose to pursue Architecture because every day I would pass by different types of houses on the way home from school and I’d imagine the layouts of these houses, where the entrance would lead to, what clues the outside would give me, were the stairs facing the door? or would there be a hall then the kitchen first? Architecture was something both familiar and a puzzle I needed to figure out.
The overarching truth is my decision to pursue Architecture as a career was based on an assessment of my skills and strengths. The multidisciplinary reality of architecture and design meant that I would not have to choose between my aptitude for the sciences and my passion for the Arts, architecture was the answer that satisfied both.
Why Architecture. - Photo courtesy of Qamelliah Nassir
What is the most important thing that you learned in the past year?
The most important thing I learnt this year was to trust the process and myself. Graduating in the middle of a national lockdown and entering the job market that was diminished due to the effects of the pandemic on the economy sucked out a lot of hope and motivation. The final assignment was an academic portfolio iterating my entire 4-year journey of architecture school and reflecting on every piece of work I had done. Looking back at projects from First year, their briefs so similar to my final year project I began to fully understand the journey it had been.
There were times where I had doubts about where my degree was taking me, particularly in the beginning, but I trusted the version of me that chose this profession, so I continued on. The weekend before the UK went into a National lockdown had seen my entire studio group sapped of energy. Halfway through the design module and at the beginning of the most critical design stages and with the studios at the brink of closure I knew exactly what I needed to do. Having previously been a part of a project located in Singapore whilst working at BIG in Copenhagen I learnt the skills of design development, presentation and remote working when completing design studies for weekly client meetings over skype. The result was a series of successful tutor meetings each week and the development of visual language I would use to present my final project and the completion of a fully realized project.
I learnt more of trust and myself during this period.
Model making at BIG. - Photo courtesy of Qamelliah Nassir
8 House by BIG. - Photo courtesy of Qamelliah Nassir
BIG Formgiving Exhibition Opening. - Photo courtesy of Qamelliah Nassir
What are some architectural organizations (or specific person/role model) that helped you learn to overcome an obstacle? How did they?
My awareness of the idea of Landscape began during the first semester of 3rd year. In the Anthropocene unit taught by Benek Cincik, I learnt more of scale, human intervention and infrastructure than I had during the previous years of Architecture school. It opened me up to architectural discourses that changed my entire perspective. I used to not question the thought of human dominance on the landscape, my ideas of the Earth and architecture were limited to what happens on the inside and how it looked from the outside.
Anthropocenic architecture was a unit that expanded my mind and my awareness of architecture and human agency at both macro and micro scales. The theories discussed and negotiated wove architecture with the history of the Earth and humanity, the landscape, Geology and infrastructure into a course that challenged us to disregard nothing, accept everything and challenge the very ground we stand upon. The unit worked extremely well as a group project consisting of myself, Zubaydah Jibrilu and Constantina Antoniadou. The acquisition of the knowledge and theories to be understood and adapted could not have been possible alone. The three of us grounded each other as our minds worked towards understanding the anthropocenic conditions.
8 months later, in the process of researching my dissertation proposal, I came across the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson. His writing conveyed every emotion and question I had with regards to nature, the landscape and human agency. It is because of him that I began with the 18th century philosophy of Transcendentalism, and it is because of the guidance of my dissertation tutor Ana Bonet Miro, that I was able to create a piece of writing that embodied my search for the answer. In the decision to listen, to investigate the questions born from curiosity and bring them into existence, words are one of the only mediums that can do them justice.
So it is Benek Cincik, Ana Bonet Miro, Zubaydah Jibrilu and Constantina Antoniadou that I am grateful for. In the span of 18 months these 4 people helped me navigate the biggest challenge to date, Zubaydah and Constantina for going through the existential crisis with me, and Benek and Ana for exposing us to career shifting theories and discourses.
Anthropocenic Architectures Sky Section. - Photo courtesy of Qamelliah Nassir.
Tales of The Anthropocene Illustration. - Photo courtesy of Qamelliah Nassir.
Deep Section Through Scale and Time. - Photo courtesy of Qamelliah Nassir.
If you were given the opportunity to repeat the year, what is one thing you’d do differently?
Nothing. I’ve always made decisions with the future in mind. So, despite my reality as an unemployed graduate and the reality of Covid-19 and its effects on the architecture industry, I do not regret my decisions. Many of my classmates have continued on to do Masters programs, some are working and some are in the same position as I am.
There’s no use comparing someone else’s journey to my own, we all have our own paths to take.
Exploring Edinburgh. - Photo courtesy of Qamelliah Nassir.
As you reflect on the past year, what did you discover as your biggest strengths?
Being able to pause and assess the past year, plan for the future and appreciate the present has been the most valuable part of this year. My biggest strength is making decisions that positively impact my future. My ability to assess, learn and digest all I have seen, experienced and been taught, lays the groundwork for the person I envision I will become. I’ve learnt to trust that I know what's best for my future, as each decision has never been made easily.
In terms of rising concerns and problems (in the architectural profession) over the past year, what is one change that you wished would happen and it did not? This can be in an educational or work atmosphere.
This past year, the flux of attention on racism that emanated from police brutality was not a novel occurrence. Architecture has never been a haven for genuine racial discourse in my experience. And though there are many moments where I have been a victim of racism that I remember, there were very few of which I'm consciously aware of.
The one change I wish had happened or been discussed about was the matter of diversity and the negative effects of unpaid architecture internships. The architectural intern works for non-financial rewards or deferred compensation and regard this period of employment as a future investment in their skills and professional network. With many not considering their labour as exploitation due to this logic. The lack of sufficient compensation leaves many unable to accept such positions, fostering inequality of opportunity and reproducing classed privilege. Such inequalities are perpetuated by individualism and feed the re-privatization of social production. And with the long hours usually spent at work, a second job is out of the question.
The decisions made by interns backed by family wealth, in accepting unpaid work presuppose and naturalize intergenerational dependence. It reproduces the privilege of those from a higher social class. Meaning those born into such positions are on a smoother path to socioeconomic success. For those unable to engage in the practice of nepotism or take advantage of familial wealth to take part in reverse pay internships (the intern paying to be an intern) or voluntourism building houses in Haiti or Fiji, the stakes are even higher. Disadvantaged for various reasons, the biggest being economically, with other factors such as insufficient student support funds from either the University or the government, affecting their ability to accept even the low/no pay opportunities.
The way things are now, it won’t be the ‘happy’ interns that drive this change, nor the employers that exploit them, or even the architectural authority that guards the title of architect so fiercely. For the problem is not only limited to the architecture profession, it is one that is prevalent in many professions, in particular creative ones.
Camp Adventure Tower by EFFEKT. Photo courtesy of Qamelliah Nassir.
