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In Part 1 of the series on Women Architects in Leadership Roles, Ar. Dr. Eleena Jamil discusses some questions posed by female mid-level architects such as: Have you ever faced discrimination, even subtly, when working on large-scale projects involving many male consultants, clients, and contractors? and; Have you ever faced resistance or bias when stepping into leadership roles in architecture? 

Tune in to find out more and do give your opinion / feedback on what you think on this matter.

Bio: Eleena Jamil is a Malaysian architect born in Penang. She graduated from the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University, in the UK. She joined the Cardiff architecture faculty as a teaching assistant while completing her MPhil and PhD postgraduate research. Her PhD thesis, titled “Rethinking Modernism: The Sugden House and the Mother’s House,” examined the concept of “ordinariness” and “vernacular imagery” as alternatives to the reductive limitations of modern architecture. She established her eponymous architectural practice in Kuala Lumpur in 2005, focusing on developing buildings within the context of Malaysia and Southeast Asia. Recently, she published a book titled 'An Essence of Place: Making Local Architecture', which emphasises the importance of rooting projects to place by way of exploring the experiential potential of form, material and construction and a concern for the environmental, social and economic aspects of
sustainability. https://ej-architect.com/

© 2025 Talk Architecture, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob. Image contributed by Eleena Jamil Architect.

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Kicking off with a teaser on a series on Women Architects in Leadership Roles with Ar. Eleena Jamil, the Principal of Eleena Jamil Architect, an Adjunct Professor and was in the Dezeen Architect of the Year 2018 and featured in 100 Women: Architects in Practice, published by RIBA in 2023. There will be two parts of the interview with your host, Naziaty Mohd Yaacob, discussing among other things, about gender roles, work-life balance and advice on how to negotiate the male-dominated field of architecture.

© 2025 Talk Architecture, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob. Image contributed by Eleena Jamil Architect.

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This is a warm-up introduction to the bigger topic of "Women in Architecture" which is part of a new series. Using an article as a reference to a general topic: 

LINK

Mila Smart Semeshkina (the author of the article) proposed there topics:

1. Gender Bias; 2. Lack of Role Models; 3. Work-Life Balance; 4. Stereotypes and Expectations; and 5. Limited Access to Networks and Opportunities

This podcast episode is provided with the first-time commentary for the beginning of the series.

© 2025 Talk Architecture, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob. Image (artwork call 'nurture') by the author.

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A new series on the critical model of disability, where under the 'architecture and disability' umbrella, using readings and commentaries, we analyse the article by Matthew Allen (2021) in Part 3 and concluding episode.

© 2025 Talk Architecture, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob. Image of a street corner by the author.

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A new series on the critical model of disability, where under the 'architecture and disability' umbrella, using readings and commentaries, we analyse the article by Matthew Allen (2021) in Part 2 episode.

© 2025 Talk Architecture, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob. Image of a hospital foyer by the author.

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A new series on the critical model of disability, where under the 'architecture and disability' umbrella, using readings and commentaries, we analyse the article by Matthew Allen (2021) in Part 1 episode.

© 2025 Talk Architecture, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob. Image of a street lamp by the author.

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The continuation discussion on a "Conversation with Kevin Mark Low on The Balanced Education Model - Part 2", with your host, Naziaty Mohd Yaacob, concentrates on these points on architecture education:

1. The obsession with 'formalism' and having an identity to build a brand giving 'false confidence' to a graduate.

2. Focus need to be on the 'power of relationships' when dealing with building type, for example "an airport is not about a gateway, but how to accommodate a large volume of people", therefore understanding rather than just looking at a 'series of relationships' is imperative.

3. Guidance (rather than collaboration) from a teacher (tutor) providing proper mentorship rather than 'influencers' which are not guides, to develop a critical designer, thinker or teacher is needed.

Bonus: A discussion on a student designing their thesis using an app in which he created. Good or bad idea? 

© 2025 Talk Architecture, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob. Image downloaded from Kevin Mark Low (2025)

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You are welcome to listen to a "Conversation with Kevin Mark Low on The Balanced Education Model - Part 1"

[Talk Architecture Podcast with your host, Naziaty Mohd Yaacob]

The first episode highlights the education systems particularly the Greek Civilisation's influence on current university models on liberal arts, which is all about "relationships". The idea that everything is interrelated such as 'space and time'. Kevin Mark Low explains this fundamental aspects of education, would now be lost as "75% of what we study now is less of studying about relationships", focusing more on serving "reputations" in this day and age. 

Further explanation is given in this episode on an example of an individual doing original work for a balanced education model, rather than organisations and institutions. The problem of 'copy-paste' approach to current education models being the norm, as we need creativity to be about 'problem solving' and not 'solution finding'.

[More in Part 2, so please listen to both in sequence]

© 2025 Talk Architecture, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob. Image downloaded from Kevin Mark Low (2025)

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A heads up to the coming two-parter episodes on a Conversation with Kevin Mark Low on The Balanced Education Model.

In the teaser episode a synopsis on what is a balanced education model based on the fundamentals referred to the Greek civilisation and how it gives rise to the liberal arts education and eventually disciplines such as architecture. A broader perspective of what is happening and how in the end the underlined importance of being able to 'critique' in architecture education as an individual concludes the discussion in Part 2.

© 2025 Talk Architecture, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob

Image downloaded from https://www.sea-archiforum.com/speakers/kevin-mark-low

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The first part of this series explains the mastery of designing with “the plan and section” is now a missing skill in current architecture education where schools of architecture neglect this very important skill by allowing students to design with 3D modeling first and emphasizing too much on this aspect. 

This discussion focused on how the emergence of Functionalism and the Bauhaus influences has been disregarded since digital architecture emerged and how architecture education has lost its way in the fundamental decision making in the design process. This then affects the quality of graduates who became not good enough to be architects. 

Form-making is not just to do with embellishment but adopting the right aesthetic principles from the very beginning of the training to be an architect. 

© 2024 Talk Architecture, Author: Naziaty Mohd Yaacob
The image by Ross Sokolovski on Unsplash

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Do subscribe for premium content and special features which will help to support and sustain Talk Architecture podcast on a more in-depth explanation on design thesis and processes. These special commentaries and ‘how to’ explanations are valuable insights and knowledge not found elsewhere!