Speaker: PariSima Hassani

BIBI group meets monthly via zoom on the first Sun of the month at 4:00 pm pacific standard time. A zoom link is emailed to BIBI members. Please fill out “Contact Us” to be added to the email list. We look forward to welcoming you!

Sara Jazayeri is the President of the AIA Bronx Chapter and an adjunct professor at Pratt Institute and the City College of New York, where she teaches Professional Practice in architecture. As the founder and principal of Studio 360, a firm based in New York City with a branch in Paris, she has over 20 years of experience designing high-profile residential and commercial projects across the U.S. and Europe. Sara holds a Master of Architecture from École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris-La Villette and a business degree from Columbia University’s CCBP program. Recognized for her contributions to the profession, she has received the NY Mayoral Service Recognition Award. Dedicated to mentorship and education, she is committed to empowering young women to excel in the field of architecture.

Speaker: Maryam Rostami

BIBI group meets monthly via zoom on the first Sun of the month at 4:00 pm pacific standard time. A zoom link is emailed to BIBI members. Please fill out “Contact Us” to be added to the email list. We look forward to welcoming you!

Speaker: Noushin Ehsan

Professor Ehsan brings five decades of successful international architectural practice in three continents, having started her own firm in Iran in 1974 when very few women were in the industry. In addition to being a licensed architect, Noushin is an entrepreneur, owner, wife, mother, lecturer, teacher, mentor, philanthropist, guide, author and community leader.

Links to more info about Noushin:

https://soa.syr.edu/live/profiles/1196-noushin-ehsan

https://www.2ndopiniondesign.com/profile.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6PK0sVqgxI

https://www.madamearchitect.org/reviews/2022/3/21/book-review-noushin-ehsans-new-memoir-shares-the-woman-behind-the-architect

https://www.instagram.com/noushin_ehsan/

Professor Ehsan has taught at many universities including Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York, and Polytechnic Institute of London. Also was adjunct professor at Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD), Massachusetts and Architectural Association (AA), London. She studied architecture at Tehran University and the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris, also received her master’s degree in Architecture & Urban Design from UCLA. She is a recipient of several honors and awards, which include the Design Merit Award from Hunter College in New York City and the Business Achievement Award for Betterment of the City of New York. In 2022 she publishes NOUSHIN, A Memoir: The making of a Women Architect. She is a Baha’i, and her faith is the center to her activities.

BIBI group meets monthly via zoom on the first Sun of the month at 4:00 pm pacific standard time. A zoom link is emailed to BIBI members. Please fill out “Contact Us” to be added to the email list. We look forward to welcoming you!

Speaker: Helia Taheri

Presentation Video:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WLefflI0-82N5if_6lTpm7tc_hwIlOWv/view

Speaker: Mina (Shokrollahi) Ardekani

BIBI group meets monthly via zoom on the first Sun of the month at 4:00 pm pacific standard time. A zoom link is emailed to BIBI members. Please fill out “Contact Us” to be added to the email list. We look forward to welcoming you!

Speaker: Rezvan Joshary

BIBI group meets monthly via zoom on the first Sun of the month at 4:00 pm pacific standard time. A zoom link is emailed to BIBI members. Please fill out “Contact Us” to be added to the email list. We look forward to welcoming you!

BIBI group meets monthly via zoom on the first Sun of the month at 4:00 pm pacific standard time. A zoom link is emailed to BIBI members. Please fill out “Contact Us” to be added to the email list. We look forward to welcoming you!

About a dozen BIBI members tuned in on 7/7/24 to hear the presentation by Negin Moayer. Negin is a licensed immigrant architect living and working in Chicago since 2006. She founded BNMO Design (Bettering Neighborhoods Making Opportunity) to focus on architectural projects and installations that help maintain the affordability and integrity of city neighborhoods, bringing equity to the underserved population.

She began by sharing that she grew up in the Shahrak Ekbetan area of Tehran, during the Iran-Iraq war, when her family considered the new concrete structures to be safe. Negin obtained her M. Arch degree from Tehran University School of Fine Arts and worked for 1 year post graduation at Bavand, similar to last month's speaker Elahe Karimnia. Then she got a student visa to attend University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, graduating from School of Architecture and Urban Planning with her M. Arch, and where she now teaches. From there, she moved to Chicago and began working at Perkins & Will. Living in Chicago she realized that although it was modern and had iconic architecture, there were also some areas of crime and dilapidated buildings.

Negin had already experienced discrimination in Iran, as a woman. Now in Chicago, she empathized with the discrimination against people of color. She chose to leave Perkins & Will in order to create her own firm that would be focused on social justice and give purpose to her work. Her next chapter has been about 'Equity in the Built Environment' through BNMO. She just formed a 501c3 non-profit arm to assist communities with fundraising for projects.

Negin provided several examples of non-profit community-based work that she designed, which are currently under construction, such as ProjectHOOD and REACH. ProjectHOOD is an empowering project that provides a gymnasium and pool for the black community. https://www.projecthood.org/. REACH is also under construction, a project to create a Coding and Technology school in the South Side, with a future phase to add a Gym. Another meaningful project was for the Muslim Women Resource Center (MWRC) with office space, hub, language learning and fresh produce for the community, which is under construction.

Lastly, she spoke about Woodlawn Canopy, an exhibit for the Chicago Biennale to activate vacant lots. It was accepted for the 2023 Venice Biennale as Mediation Slice: Immigration Placemaking exhibit. The goal was to raise awareness of immigrant and minority religions in order to bring them forward from being hidden. Investigating the concept of Food Deserts and understanding how to overcome food scarcity was a topic of research with her students, and her class connected with local Indigenous groups who showed how they incorporated community gardens, food harvesting and human relationships.

Overall, the attendees were impressed with the social justice aspect of Negin's work, and how it was actually being built and implemented. Attendees wanted to know about the fundraising process; whether being an immigrant enabled her to connect more with the marginalized community; how the community centers were operating; how Negin used her own discriminatory upbringing in Iran to solve for social justice in Chicago; etc. Surprisingly, Sara Khorshidifard spoke about having the same advisor and being influenced by UWM to work on social justice, while Zahra Rasti spoke about her work being invited to participate in the upcoming Venice Biennale. Thus, many connections were made because of this presentation.

Grateful to Negin for sharing her perspective, passion and projects with us. Kudos to her for being able to implement these impressive projects and transforming the communit

We were very happy to host one of our BIBI Steering Committee, Shiva Mendez, on our monthly zoom call 5/5/24. Shiva is a Principal at HOK in San Francisco, where she has been working since 2008. She is most passionate about her role as the Co-Chair of HOK’s Diversity Advisory Council, advocating for equity and inclusion in the industry. Furthermore, she is part of HOK’s Board of Directors, advising the firm leadership on promoting diversity not only in their work, but also in their communities. Shiva received her Bachelor’s of Interior Architecture from Rhode Island School of Design and met her husband there. Over the past 30 years, she has specialized in healthcare design, thinking strategically, balancing the patient experience with operational efficiency, economic prudence and design excellence.

In the recording of her presentation, you will hear Shiva describing her journey from Iran to the US, her high school and college years, and her initial jobs. She started out working in Boston, MA then moved to Raleigh, NC where she began on healthcare projects. When she became pregnant, was overlooked for a promotion at SmithGroup, so she changed to working at HOK. Many of her projects have taken years to complete, with her involvement from the initial programming to completion, including work in the US, Hong Kong, Singapore and Saudi Arabia. Shiva even ended up taking her daughter on her business trips, in order to be there both for work and for family. One of the projects she is proudest of is Stanford Children’s Health in Sunnyvale, where she combined aspects of playfulness with a welcoming environment, to help families overcome the challenges they are facing with their kids. Many of Shiva’s projects incorporated a wellness aspect with greenery, daylighting and comfortable settings.

The BIBI audience was eager to ask Shiva lots of questions, compliment her on her design and thoughtful projects, and share their gratitude for her mentorship. Some asked Shiva for advice, and we spent time also talking about the mental health crisis currently facing the generations. Her work was impressive, delightful and mission-driven. She shared many of her initiatives and ideas, which were uplifting. Together with Kim Dowdell, President of AIA, Shiva is working to transform the architectural industry to be more respectful and inclusive.

Attached are some screenshots from the presentation, as well as a BIBI group photo. Shiva jan even shared a recipe for Cinco de Mayo, to incorporate her husband’s heritage!

Thank you Shiva Jan for sharing your story, career journey, beautiful projects, and personal perspective.