Creative Storytelling has the power to blur the line between imagination and reality, and so does great design!
Saloni Rege, our next pathbreaker, Design Professional at INTEGRUS (Seattle), works in a hybrid role spanning Architectural Design, Research, Communications and Marketing.
Saloni talks to Shyam Krishnamurthy from The Interview Portal about choosing the creative world of architecture as her profession while writing has always remained her passion that led her to a Master of Science in Architectural History, Theory and Criticism at the University of Washington (Seattle).
For students, you are defined by your unique journey. Work silently, believe in your vision, dream wild, manifest, and drive impact.
Saloni, can you share your background for our young readers?
Always a city girl at heart, I was born and brought up in Mumbai. Originally hailing from Goa—I’ve been raised with utmost love, discipline, integrity, and encouragement to explore things and hobbies that made me happy. As a single child, I was pampered to say the least! And since I didn’t have any siblings to play with, I would surround myself with a large group of friends frequently, and on quieter days, my hobbies became my companion. As a toddler, I would resort to dancing and art a lot and that has stayed with me all along. Growing up, sports became an active part of my life, from participating in Athletics (especially running and long jump) to never missing a day of playing football and badminton—these extra-curricular activities recharged me to focus on my academics, which by the way I was always good and focused at.
Coming from a well-educated, middle-class family, my father worked with multinational firms, spearheading the purchase and supply-chain management departments. He has always been my personal Google! My mother on the other hand is a lawyer with LLM in Criminology as her profession, but has been a homemaker by choice to be a full-time mom for me. I call her my personal diary! My parents have always been my best friends with whom I could literally talk about anything in the world. I believe that childhood plays an important part in how we shape up as adults and alter our perception of the world. Learning to freely address each and every emotion at a young age has helped me make space to receive the greater things in life.
And one of them is the art of writing; an escape, a true gift one can ever possess. I first started with poetry and haven’t stopped since. The sheer lightness and joy of penning feelings and thoughts down in such a rhythmic manner has been my primary form of expression since the age of nine. I still remember being a little girl who first wrote a poem on my fifth-grade class-teacher who was leaving school at the time. And then I kept writing poems on a variety of real life and imaginary topics. For each unique poem I wrote, I would get Rs.100 from my parents and the best ones would score me Rs.500. This acted as a token of encouragement! From kindergarten to high school, I studied in Cambridge School, a Ryan Group of Schools franchise. Being an ICSE board student, I was introduced to Rahim and Kabir’s dohas in the fifth grade itself with prose, poetry and Shakespearean literature in high school. This is when I also discovered my interest in long-form writing—essays, articles, blogs, stories.
I was certain by this time that I wanted to pursue a creative career path. Since I enjoyed physics as much as I loved history and literature, I narrowed down my options to Architecture and Journalism. Fashion designing had almost made it to the list with a sketchbook and woven designs of dresses sitting on my desk! After clearing my boards with a distinction and wanting to keep my architectural options open, I studied science from Mithibai Junior College, where I became sure of my professional path. But I also kept my passion for writing alive by authoring a teen-fiction novel, “You and Me Less Than Three (<3)” at the age of 18, which first debuted as an e-book on Wattpad but was later published as a Paperback and Kindle e-book by Amazon CreateSpace in the US, UK, India and across European nations, articles of which featured in the national and regional newspapers.
What did you do for graduation/ post-graduation?
For my Bachelors, I embraced the creative world of Architecture, a tedious five-year professional degree, with never-ending submissions, multiple design portfolios, dreadful (but fun) juries, fascinating study tours exploring parts of structures only accessible to architects, sleepless nights, heavy doses of caffeine but an experience of a lifetime! This is where I began to see the world differently, by understanding the nuances of people-place connection, nurturing through quality spaces, through enriching sustainable design, the idea of preservation, and studying the psychology of human stimuli to an environment. When you’re an Architecture student, your whole family gets dragged into the process of staying awake the entire night or helping out with models while you work on large scale 8’x4’ panels.
Graduating from Asmita College of Architecture, Mumbai University in 2018, I went on to work as an Architect for two years and a Design Writer and Journalist for a year in Mumbai itself. In Fall 2021, I moved to the US to pursue my Master of Science in Architectural History, Theory and Criticism at the University of Washington in Seattle. The niche field of architectural journalism is prevalent in the US and UK with limited universities offering this program at masters’ level. This journey was only possible due to a 75% UW CBE department scholarship, a fellowship and the financial and emotional support of family and friends.
Can you share with us some of the key influences that led you to such an offbeat, unconventional, and unique career in Architectural Journalism?
I guess I’ve always believed in weaving spaces and stories alike! While I chose the creative world of architecture as my profession, writing always remained my passion. I started out with architectural research, participating in design writing competitions at academic level. In my second year of BArch, I came across the term ‘Architectural Journalism’, which seemed fascinating and on the lines of what I wanted to explore. Then flashed the name of Ar. Apurva Bose Dutta, India’s first architectural journalist who is renowned across the globe. Connecting with her and learning from her mentorship at various occasions, I decided to pursue this niche field.
So, after graduating in 2018, I worked with NSA Architects on their design projects and website content development for a year as a Project Architect under the guidance of Ar. Niranjan Shinde. I felt like I needed to understand design closely and practically before I could write about it or offer my critique. This would add more weightage to how I perceive architecture. Simultaneously, I kept my content writing going as well as taking online courses on Architectural Journalism by Apurva Bose Dutta through ACEDGE. I also freelanced for TFOD (The Future of Design); an online design platform, writing contributing articles.
What proved as a game changer for me was when I got the opportunity to work with Elle Décor India as a Features Writer—coordinating with the arts, editorial, and sales teams as well as industry professionals, writing and editing for this global magazine’s print as well as digital medium, interviewing prolific designers across the world and attending brand launch events around. I’ve learnt a lot from my editors there—Mrudul Pathak Kundu, Sonia Dutt, and Anamika Butalia. The amount of exposure I’ve got to the design industry has been unmatchable. I also wrote a couple of art blogs for Espravo, an art gallery in Kochi.
How did you plan the steps to get into the career you wanted? Or how did you make a transition to a new career? Tell us about your career path
My very first internship was with Space Moulders in Mumbai during my fourth year of B.Arch as an academic requirement. While my work there was purely architectural, I got some writing work for their website.
Moving on in the industry, working on the design and writing side of architecture alternately, I realized that I was missing one function while doing the other. I wanted to do both—design and write! That’s when I decided to carve a unique path for myself. Getting admitted to the MS Architecture History/Theory program at the University of Washington, Seattle was the first step towards that! While in the States, I interned at 7 Directions Architects & Planners for a year, wherein I was able to work on master planning for indigenous architecture and lead design research and content writing as well. Architect Daniel Glenn supported my passion for this unique niche, connecting me to the AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction) industry and Project Architect, Esteban Vallejo guided me through the internship.
Another set of instrumental mentors at UW have been my thesis guides, Prof. Alex Anderson and Prof. Ken Tadashi Oshima who have helped me look at theory and design criticism in a new light and have supported me unconditionally towards my research into Textiles and Architecture. Additionally, taking Prof. Vikramaditya Prakash’s class on Fashion, Architecture and Quantum Physics has also helped delve into intellectual design theories. While at UW, I’ve explored teaching opportunities as a TA, presenting design histories and theories of the built environments to a class of 100 plus students. I’ve also conducted an online architectural journalism workshop through Ar. Vaishnavi Kalzunkar for the design students of the NGO, Vidyadaan Sahayyak Mandal in Mumbai.
Upon graduation from my masters’ program, I joined INTEGRUS Architecture—a renowned Pacific Northwest firm into institutional and civic projects—as a Design and Communications Professional; a unique role crafted by the firm at the intersection of design and writing.
I owe it to CEO, Brian Carter and my mentors Matthew Bissen, Wendy Abeel, Patrick Donnelly, Jeff Luedeman, Sam Schafer, TJ Hoving, Christine Sutor, and Loretta Sachs for guiding me and shaping up my perspectives around design and communications. I’ve also got immense encouragement and creative freedom from my seniors—Chien-Yi Chu, Erik Peterson, Randal Bennett, and Will Crothers. An opportunity to present my thesis at Integrus and receive instrumental feedback has also been a personal highlight for growth.
How did you get your first break?
If I were to specifically talk about Architectural Journalism, my first real break was with Elle Décor India during the pandemic times and it was one of the most stimulating breaks, rather a turning point in my career, which added experience and brand value to my profile as it was a global magazine. I remember coming across their social media posts for a job vacancy and finding it fascinating enough to apply. After a few writing and editing tests, I was the first architect to join their team, who also could write and craft stories.
As for Integrus, my first break at a dual position, I’ve a method wherein I don’t wait for the firms to reach out with a vacancy, I take the initiative to reach out to the organizations that I aspire to work with. I had reached out to Integrus for my internship first. They were in the process of a merger then and we reconnected a year later for a full-time job. They then crafted a unique role for me to utilize my entire potential.
What were some of the challenges you faced? How did you address them?
I guess the biggest challenge was to not have any sort of guidebook or reference as to how this unique journey needs to be treaded upon. What are the dos and don’ts? How lucrative is it? What sort of scope can it expand into? So many questions! But what helped was to research as much as I could about the different forms of design journalism from magazines to digital issues to podcasts to video formats—each starting a dialogue that created awareness about the built environment. This research was paired with calculative risks, a strong desire for passionate work and lots of intuitive decisions to overcome the challenge!
Secondly, there’s no master’s course that lets you directly study Architectural Journalism. To find something along similar lines was a hassle. There were barely four universities in the UK and three in the US that offered a design theory program at master’s level. Looking for a program with flexible modules of criticism was the key point.
Lastly, on a personal front, I’ve always lived in Mumbai and the city has offered me every desirable avenue. Moving away from home and directly abroad, to literally the other side of the world was the most challenging part. Venturing out on an explorative journey was exciting and scary at the same time. I’ll always be grateful at how this journey introduced me to a version of myself I didn’t know existed. It suddenly made me independent, emotionally strong and more confident and taught me to be a hustler for your passion.
I always follow that—never settle for less than what you deserve or what your heart desires.
Where do you work now? Can you tell us about your current role?
I work as a Design Professional at INTEGRUS, contributing to Architectural Design, Research, and Communications.
My work here has exposed me to fire station and K-12 projects, sustainability analysis research, marketing efforts, design labs, events, and festivals, and guided my work on media articles, project narratives, principal bios, social media engagement, SEO optimization, website content management, blogs and award submittals. It’s almost been a year that I’ve been associated with the firm and the AEC industry and I cherish every bit of it. A typical day at the firm looks like a lot of focused as well as collaborative work in a thriving, creatively fueling environment. There are multiple learning avenues presented through seminars and workshops as well as rejuvenating events and fun discourses.
How does your work benefit society?
Architecture is a noble profession, providing one of mankind’s essential elements – shelter. The idea of architecture itself is for people to benefit, heal, enjoy or repose from the spaces crafted. What takes those designs a notch higher is how they are narrated through a story. That’s where Architectural Journalism comes into play! Design and writing are interdependent of each other. This niche field makes the society aware about their surroundings, the developments happening in their city that would directly or indirectly affect their way of living or the environment, propagates discussions around built and unbuilt spaces, encourages heritage preservation, informs about the latest décor and interior trends in the industry, sheds light on space and human psychology, encourages public participation in design events to shape up their habitat, addresses concerns in the architecture, construction & urbanism industry, introduces people to upcoming concepts like Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) and more, and educates users of their rights to demand, preserve, prevent or reinvent spaces.
Tell us an example of a specific memorable work you did that is very close to you!
Last year, I worked with my Integrus team to design an installation for the Seattle Design Festival. The entire process from curation to execution onsite has been a memorable one. The installation was driven by the festival theme, ‘Curiosity’ and was coined “Cubular-Tubular”. It engaged audiences in a sensory experience, combined with periscopic perceptions and curious interaction with strangers. It was one of the most loved and accessible installations at the event, wherein people weren’t ready to move on from it and kept coming back to pass through the cube with dangling wooden tubes that clinked-clanked along with their suspended bells. One of the periscopes was placed in a way that it portrayed an inverted Space Needle—conversing with the surrounding. The sheer joy of watching people interact with it and unraveling its parts was a sight to behold and felt purposeful.
While I was volunteering at the fest, the most special part was when a mother asked me if I could click a photo with her nine-year old who wished to become a designer someday and she told her daughter to be like me. I was touched! Also, I felt grateful to see people across all ages experiencing the work with the same amusement.
Another work close to my heart is the People Feature I wrote for Elle Décor India about Ar. Ong-ard Satrabhandhu. This Thai architect is a renowned and a well-respected figure in the field of urbanism and conservation and simply interacting with him, knowing his story and humble approach to architecture was insightful.
His saying, “Worry less about abstract theories and be more concerned with the experience of emotions. Good buildings communicate” has stuck with me till date.
Your advice to students based on your experience?
Never shy away from carving a niche path for yourself! Stay true to your passion, research in-depth, learn from mentors and establish a network that uplifts. Experiment with design as much as you can at an academic level and participate in events and extra-curriculars that ignite the enthusiasm in you. Share your process more than your outcomes. Work silently, believe in your vision, dream wild, manifest, and drive impact.
Most importantly, do not compare your journey to someone else’s. Your path is yours to tread at your own pace. There are multiple avenues and career trajectories out there and the world has so much to offer—extract what best suits you!
Future Plans?
I don’t plan a lot in advance. I usually treat a day as it comes. However, I do aim to create an informed platform for Architectural Journalism someday wherein I can spread awareness about the field, especially in India. I would also like to encourage and urge design firms to introduce in-house publications and research cells so designing and narrating become a cohesive experience.
Personally, I just want to keep contributing to architecture, seek inspiration through my PNW hikes or just sit by Marine Drive to resolve my creative block and most importantly—be happy and excited doing the work I do. I am here to persist, but first, let’s all creatively co-exist!