Skip to content
NSAKI

05My Story

Architecture, education and a playground.

I’m Nadia, an architect who teaches professional practice for a living and designs for fun.

I studied Architectural Design at UCL, completing my MArch before joining Foster + Partners, where I spent seven years working across architectural design and professional education.

My early career was rooted in design. I worked on large and complex projects, developed technical knowledge and learned how architecture moves from an initial idea through drawings, coordination, construction and delivery.

At Foster + Partners, my work gradually expanded into education. I began teaching and developing learning programmes for architecture students and professionals, including Part 3, professional practice, apprenticeships, design responsibility and the realities of working in practice.

That experience made me realise how much valuable architectural knowledge is difficult to access, difficult to explain or simply made more complicated than it needs to be.

So I created Nadia’s Playground.

Learn. Make. Share.

It is a space for exploring architecture, sharing knowledge, making useful things and finding more enjoyable ways to learn.

Inside, you’ll find:

  • The Classroom

    Architectural education, professional practice and learning resources.

  • The Studio

    Design, creative direction, architecture and ideas in progress.

  • The Reading Room

    Microlearnings, explainers, observations and things I’m still learning.

  • The Event Room

    Workshops, conversations, collaborations and gatherings.

I believe serious subjects can still be joyful, and that complicated things become more useful when people can understand them.

This is my attempt to make architecture, education and design a little clearer, more human and more fun.