Degree: Honours, Bachelor of Arts, major in Architectural Studies, minor in Italian Studies

What was the most enjoyable part of your degree?
I think studio courses are the most enjoyable part of an architectural degree. Studio culture is about learning how to incorporate creative thinking and problem solving into the design process, but it is also about learning how to communicate, collaborate, and negotiate with different people. Leaning into the discomfort of these challenges with other students by working together and supporting each other has led to some of the most memorable and meaningful moments of my degree.

What advice would you give to a new student?
I would encourage students to make a mess. Design schools are places where people of similar interests come together to exchange ideas; they are spaces of testing and making, of using experience and gaining experience. To make the most of your degree, give yourself the freedom to experiment, to play around, to make a mess, to fail, to wander and to grow.

Farah spoke at the official opening of the Daniels Building on November 17, 2017, providing remarks on behalf of the student community.

How has your understanding of architecture changed over the course of your degree?
Architecture as a discipline turned out to be a lot more dynamic than I imagined it to be, and I am always fascinated at the extent to which architectural thinking lends itself to other fields of knowledge. Over the course of my degree, I started understanding architectural design as a response to the context-specific conditions of different times and spaces. Consequently, I found architectural history to be the most engaging way to tell stories about and make connections between these different times and spaces, and the societies that occupied them.

What are your plans after graduation? How has this degree prepared you for the future?
What I appreciate the most about my undergraduate degree is that it helped foster in me a sense of curiosity and a desire to keep learning. Developing techniques and skill sets is certainly an important component of the undergraduate degree at the Daniels Faculty, but what I found to be most valuable is the way that my program encouraged me to think critically about and engage with architectural discourse. Carrying that perspective forward, I plan to continue learning at the Daniels Faculty of Architecture at the graduate level in September.  

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Convocation for #UofTDaniels students is on June 14. This month we are featuring our graduates, including their work, their memories, and their advice for new students. Follow #DanielsGrad18 for more!