As part of our quest to identify and share some of the meaningful stories from India and around the world, this week we invited Sneha Satyan for an interview with us. In her role as Senior Interior Architect At LXA, Sneha is a Creative Leader and Design Consultant. She combines her love and passion for design and creativity to make a mark in a domain that she enjoys to be in. Let’s read more about her interesting journey so far!
Excerpts from our exclusive Interview with Sneha:
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey as an architect & consultant, please;
I graduated with a Bachelor Degree in Architecture from BMS College of Engineering in Bangalore, India, before heading to Milan for my Masters in Interior Design. I hold dual Masters Degrees in Interior Design from SPD & IULM in Milan, Italy.
The foundation for my passion for designing was laid through a pragmatic approach to architecture, during my studies in India, & this was flared with a sense of creativity & emotionalism during my time in Italy. I consider it a perfect amalgamation of creativity & practicality which are keywords to architecture & interior design.
I started my journey as a practicing Architect & Interior Designer in Italy, & secured experiences in India, prior to stepping into the Middle East. I have worked with several renowned design firms, before making my way to LXA Dubai in 2015. I started as an Interior Architect, designing & design-managing projects across the Middle East. As Senior Interior Architect, I now manage operations for LXA India, based in Bangalore, while also design-managing projects across India & Middle East.
What gets you out of bed in the morning i.e. what’s your source of motivation?
‘Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life’, said Mark Twain.
This describes my way with my job in the simplest sense. It’s quite easy to remain motivated when your passion is your job! Of course, each day is different, each project is different & so is each Client. I believe designing is a problem-solving exercise. And solving a problem is always intriguing! This helps bring in a sense of motivation as well.
What challenges/obstacles did you face in your journey so far?
As mentioned, I see the process involved in designing as a problem-solving exercise.
No matter the scale & typology of projects, each come with their own set of contingencies & restrictions. It is the role of a designer to bring about a creative solution that is realizable. The approach of treating each project as a scalable challenge, renders a nascent perspective to create the most efficient solution.
The big picture perspective is always helpful in retaining that motivation, to find the most feasible solution. Due to the versatile nature & scale of projects we do at LXA, the challenges too are multitude. The most significant ones I would say are those that involve adaptation to a client’s budgetary needs, while not necessarily anticipating the capacity of capital. It could be a vicious cycle that may be detrimental to the entire process of conceptualization to development; especially in the case of large, complex projects.
Another key challenge faced by architects & designers alike is to do with the hand- holding process of delivering projects. It not only is a challenge to deliver to exact design, but a bigger one is ensuring the same designer carries through with this process. Although as Interior Design Consultants, we at LXA involve ourselves in the delivery of projects to an extent of 90% of our designed projects. This is also true as part of the reason for our branch office setup in Bangalore.
Also, as part of my role as Senior Interior Architect, I ensure the design documentation is communicative & prescriptive of the design concepts. This is carried further via communications to other disciplines, authorities & contractors involved. This is what I would call is the hand-holding process of delivery.
It would be incomplete to not mention the overcoming of challenges of being a woman in the construction industry. We certainly are at a progressive time in the world where women in all industries are being more involved than ever before. I in fact see it as an advantage to be a woman in this industry. I have experienced this more so at project sites, where mostly male representation is higher. Female presence aides in finding that efficient solution a tad more simply than otherwise. The element of respect towards the minority representation is very helpful, & is something I have experienced in most of my projects.
How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
As with any other industry, designing & architecture come with their own good & bad days. The key I believe is to be versatile in your approach to design. When we speak of a particular project, irrespective of its scale & typology, the project involves multiple processes right from feasibility studies, to conceptualization, to design development & documentation, to cost analyses, to site execution & supervision, to snagging, before complete handover.
Being versatile & adaptable to each of these processes helps balance out the pressure delivered by any one process. There are several schools of thought on counterbalancing the stress experienced as a creative professional. Honing passions more than that which is the main profession, is another way.
I am a professional Bharatanatyam dancer, & dancing is my other passion! Incidentally this is a creative field as well, & both dancing & designing are correlated in my experiences. Rendering a thought by use of a language of art is the core idea in both.
What is one strategy that you believe has helped you grow as a person?
Since having relocated to my position in India, my role has expanded to business development. Business side of the industry is not necessitated by an architect typically in India. This is a skill I learnt during my experiences in Italy & Middle East. It is a skill I am developing more so by each day. More than treating it as a strategy, the idea is to always sell/deliver tailormade to the audience under consideration. I find it intriguing how the projection of one same idea resonates in several different ways with different people, different audiences. This process of honing my skills of business development has certainly helped me grow as a person, in that delivering to the requirement while also projecting to the future.
What advice would you give to someone starting out, particularly women?
I would like to repeat Mark Twain’s quote here – ‘Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life’.
We are at a time in the world where any passion, any interest can be transformed into a profession. It all boils down to remaining focused on that passion.
For the field of architecture & interior design in particular I believe this is an ever changing one, in that always being anticipatory of what the future expects. Without being bogged down by the pressures of turnover, it is essential to harness the passion & use it to benefit, thereby causing value creation & acceleration of revenue. For all those young women starting out, it’s important gender bias is not sown in their own heads by way of restrictive implications. I would say reel with the flow of the profession & take advantage of being heard, since you are probably still fewer than the men out there!
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