PARNIA SHAHAB 

I'm an artist-architect who is interested and work on the intersection of Architecture and Art. These interests come from my personal background.

I officially graduated from the Master of Architecture (M.Arch.) program in December 2017 at the University of Tehran. I started my master's degree with no gap after finishing my bachelor of architecture (B.Arch) program in June 2015 at the Islamic Azad University, Tehran central branch.

Like most students during undergraduate studies in architecture, I could not find answers to my questions such as: who am I as a designer? What do I want to do as an architect? What is the relationship between my artistic interests and architecture? Seeking answers to my questions and exploring the relationship between art and architecture led me to continue my studies at the graduate level.

During the six years of my education, I immersed myself in various teaching and learning activities, such as teaching conceptual architectural sketch workshops, working in architectural firms, and enrolling in various national/international workshops. I gained valuable lessons in each role that prepared me for my future path. During my teaching sessions, I helped students find their way of designing by exposing them to creative design methods

Facing different cultures on architectural trips, which included exchanging students with other universities, was a turning point in my life. Working with foreign architecture students and realizing their viewpoints in different countries such as Russia, India, and France, resulted in learning different cultural perceptions, innovative thinking, and various perspectives in architecture. What I experienced in the workshops was more than architectural practice; It was a dialogue between cultures in design language.

These experiences expanded my hypothesis about creative ways that include cultural diversity in architecture. Exploring design methods related to the human body, physical space, identity, and culture and trying to find answers to my previous questions led me to the graduate program in fine arts at the University of Calgary.

My Master of Fine Arts research project focused on developing inter- disciplinary art-based methods (augmented reality) to understand the physical space. During the past two years, I have had the opportunity to gain knowledge about this field in my institution, develop my skills, and present my research on art/design-based platforms at various exhibitions across Canada.

During my studies in Canada, I started working in an architectural firm to connect my ideas with reality. In the 2 years, I experienced Canadian work experience. I became familiar with the architect's responsibilities to seek out, understand, and resolve the client's needs in the new context. I got acquainted with the laws, codes, regulations, and contracts common to architecture practice in Canada. I gained an understanding of the role of the internship in obtaining licensure and registration and the mutual rights and responsibilities of interns and employers, and that's why this opportunity is critical for exploring my research and studies in this field.

After these years of studying and teaching architecture, I found that architects are destined to find creative and responsive answers to design problems, not only to solve them but also to evaluate the quality of human life now and in the future. Therefore, my desire to work in Canada as an intern architect and a registered architect in the future is to expand my knowledge and experience in fields of professional interest in art, design, and architecture.