We, as the Designer Interviews ("DI") had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to interview award-winning, most creative and innovative Samira Katebi ("SK").
Samira Katabi received her master's degree in architecture in Iran. While studying, she began his professional career as a designer at the Bonyad Maskan of Tehran and designed residential complexes. Samira was an architectural expert at Abbasabad Company and increased her skills in designing theme parks, landscape design, Science center and Planetarium, children's playground, etc. As her interest in illustration increased, she began to illustrate books. She is currently working as a Master of Architecture in Tehran Municipality in the field of architecture and landscape design. Her motto is: I will make the world a more beautiful and safer place as my dreams come true.
Samira Katebi Designs
We are pleased to share with you original and innovative design work by Samira Katebi.
Samira Katebi Design - Biochal Tourism Recreation Zone
Designer Interview of Samira Katebi:
DI: Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: I spent most of my childhood modeling the toys I wish I had and then I slowly started to build things that had daily functions. This was my hobby. I’d try building things that would make me and my family’s life better. From fixing things to designing stuff that would make life easier. It was very exciting for me. I started studying architecture in Tehran university in 1984 and I soon figured the world of architecture is way bigger than a building industry. From designing a building to designing furniture, landscape, lighting, colors, materials and so much more. Maybe getting into architecture was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Now I’m a designer. I’m someone that has ideas for everything that comes to my mind. Now I can share “being me” with the world.
DI: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: We work in a studio that we present our client’s ideas before it turns into an actual project. To start a project, you need to pay attention to all the aspects and users it is going to have. There are a lot of things that can make a project successful, from private investing departments to reserving materials and social encounters. So before we start the project we give some ideas to our clients which needs a lot of patience and care because sometimes we have to make decisions alongside or for our client.
DI: What is "design" for you?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: To me, design is life. Whether doing it as a job, or doing it as a hobby when I do picturing for a kids book behind a table at a café.
DI: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: I have studied architecture and I work as an architect. Even though I work for clients I still rather designing buildings that attract and interact with more people.
DI: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: My favorite things to design by far are theme parks. I design and create a place that brings people peace and uses national tales to appreciate my culture.
DI: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: My first design happened when I was a student. I designed the first ever geodesic dome in my country for an international exhibition and a computer company in 1988. It was a very bold move for a student! In order to design the nodes, I used trigonometry and worked alongside professional turners to form a node with 3 axes. It was a very exciting projects.
DI: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: Each projects needs its own material and technology. I live in a country that due to its economics, modern technology slowly and rarely gets updated. But wood and natural stones are my personal favorites that I try to use in every project.
DI: When do you feel the most creative?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: whenever I narrate the project in my mind and start walking in it. My projects are live beings that I can walk alongside them, talk loudly and joke around. Every design of mine has its own story and it grows and complete itself.
DI: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: structure details, corners and change of materials
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: You need to be a designer to understand the excitement. Especially when the fist lines start showing up from thousands of lines you’ve sketched. Then you take a coloring pencil and color the parts out. And then to turn on your pipe and congratulate the new baby.
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: I participate in competitions because I like sharing my ideas with people and the world. It makes me feel good to know that people enjoy my design and have connected with it and get a good feeling from it. This shows me that I have solved a problem and the project has achieved its goals. In my eyes a successful project is the one that connects with people.
DI: What makes a design successful?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: Try hard, being hopeful and believing in yourself
DI: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: To judge a design, except it being responsive to problems, is how it connects with my mind or not. This connection can be the lines, the form, the color, materials, being different and its harmony with the environment surrounding it, which all depends on the judge or the jury’s personal taste. We also have to consider that mental and social situations can affect the way you judge.
DI: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: It’s true that we, as architects, are bound to live with and for people and therefore the design needs to cover people’s needs and problems. But sometimes we need to fix a cultural issue or a bad behavior through our design and this needs to be mentioned more often.
DI: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: Answering this question was much easier if it was 20-30 years ago but nowadays with technologies impact on our lives it’s much more complicated. Let me give you an example: It took a long time for us from carrying things around ourselves to inventing wheels. It also took a long time from inventing wheels to inventing the first generation of cars. Since then until now we have seen a very fast growth in cars and their designs but they always have wheels. It’s almost impossible to think of a car without wheels, but nowadays we can see the invention of some things that can move stuff without wheels. All this time design was an inseparable part of the whole process. So it’s not hard to imagine that in near future every product has a concept based on multiple parameters.
DI: When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: I didn’t really think of that before…an exhibition to show your art! Of course my major is architecture and having an exhibition happens less compared to other art majors. Or maybe it’s my love for designing that I’m always sitting somewhere in the city designing without the need for showing that to others. Thank you for mentioning this question.
DI: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: My love for nature. And my designs are all alive and I believe all of them have to live after they are born. Every living creature. Even when I’m designing a piece of stone you can see from multiple angles that there are some type of creatures involved in it. At least that’s how I feel. Have you done that with clouds? It’s very fascinating. You can connect with them in an emotional way.
DI: How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: Style is a mold that our generation uses to categorize. Maybe this word can be used more in philosophy…as you know, having access to a library with known categories is way better than a library without those categories. Therefore, I don’t have a specific Style but my approach to design is nature and user and culture friendly. We use different styles when it comes to different projects. And as Jane Jacobs said: “design is people!”
DI: Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: We live in Iran. My country has a precious history and ancient social life and is mixed with multiple cultures. The love for nature has always been a part of our architecture.
DI: How do you work with companies?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: The working system all around the world is based on your skills and background but here it is more based on how familiar they are with you. I have to say that this way of work in my country is very deficient.
DI: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: Holding a competition is one of the best ways. Because it brings out the passion for designing in designers and also the client can get many new ideas that they may not have thought about before.
DI: Can you talk a little about your design process?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: Since we are in the architecture field, our mission is to know the user and society. After that we need to prioritize what we need based on our goals and the amount of money. We also need to consider climate (since in my country, we have a variety of climates. From desserts to rainy jungles to mountains full of snow). Then we estimate the time that project is going to be ready. The economic and political situation is also effective. Considering all the things above we start by having a meeting with our client and we do some sketches to observe our client and their needs. Then we do the same with effective technical, political and social platforms to turn the sketch into a project. Designing faze 1, pre faze 2 to choose the materials and faze 2 to end the design process.
DI: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: My sketch book, pencil, coloring pencil, my cup of tea and pipe.
DI: Can you describe a day in your life?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: In my country our income is based on hours which I think is similar to some other countries. I start my day with the thought of that day being great. I browse my plans for that day and remind my team of the work they have to do. I also check the timeline to prevent falling behind.
DI: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: Observing well, practice practice practice, and not getting disappointed.
DI: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: The positive thing is having a good feeling first for yourself and then hoping to give the same good feelings to others. The negative thing about being a designer is the things you have to do that you do no resonate with but you’re forced to do because of a financial or political situation.
DI: What is your "golden rule" in design?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: believe in your dreams.
DI: What skills are most important for a designer?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: Due to out bond with technology nowadays, knowing how to work with multiple soft wares and having a suitable computer that you can rely on for the next 3-4 months is necessary.
DI: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: Rhino, auto cad, Lumion and Photoshop are some of the software applications we use in our studio
DI: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: Managing my own plans, planning ahead, and giving a portion of work to a team of coworkers that I supervise
DI: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: It depends on the project.
DI: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: What is your concept for this project? What was your source of inspiration?
DI: What was your most important job experience?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: Designing and building Tehran’s planetarium “Gonbad-e- Mina”
DI: Who are some of your clients?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: I usually work with municipality and most of my projects was inaugurated by the mayor.
DI: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: Designing theme parks. I think my audience mostly consists of normal city people who can experience new things along with having fun and enjoy green spaces.
DI: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: There is a place in the south of Tehran that is 9 km and it was previously a rail-way for Tehran and Tabriz. We want to build a path garden that reduces the amount of crime in that specific region and give people who live in a poor neighborhood with poor facilities a new sight and experience.
DI: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: we work as a team.
DI: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: Of course. I’m working on an interactive furniture in places without function around the city that can help the anxious and worried pedestrians due the sadness and anxiety and highly priced mental health care services covid-19 has caused.
DI: How can people contact you?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: They can contact me with sabahiamir632@gmail.com +98 938 274 0133 https://www.linkedin.com/in/amir-mohammad-sabahi-moosavi-74a78b221 https://instagram.com/sabahimoosavi?utm_medium=copy_link
DI: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
SK : Amir Mohammad Sabahi Moosavi: Of course. I’m working on an interactive furniture in places without function around the city that can help the anxious and worried pedestrians due the sadness and anxiety and highly priced mental health care services covid-19 has caused.