TSA CONNECT 2023 | Session 4: Newcomers

Arancha González Bernardo (B.Sc.Arch, M.Arch: ETSAC, A Coruña, Spain; BCIN) is a Spanish architect and co-founder of Odami, an architectural and design firm based out of Toronto, Canada.

Founded in 2018, the studio focuses on residential and commercial projects, supplemented with material experimentation and furniture and object design. Odami’s work has been published internationally, including Dezeen, Frame, Azure, Thisispaper, Elle Decor, Architectural Digest, and several others.

Prior to co-founding Odami, Arancha worked in offices in Spain, Austria, and Canada, collaborating on projects ranging from residential to large-scale corporate and commercial, in cities across Europe and North America.  Arancha completed her studies in Architecture at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura in La Coruña, Spain, with a specialty in Theory and Design.

In addition to Odami, Arancha is a Sessional Lecturer at the School of Interior Design of the Toronto Metropolitan University.

Mostafa is a wayfinding designer with over 8 years of experience in architectural, urban, and visual communication design. He graduated from architecture school in Cairo University, Egypt, and earned his master’s degree in urban design and development from University College London (UCL) in the UK, as he was awarded Chevening Scholarship. Mostafa’s professional experience includes working in Egypt, the UK, and recently Canada. He started his career as an urban designer at Takween Integrated Community Development, an Egyptian urban development company. With a formal education in architecture and urban design and being a self-taught graphic designer, he worked with multilateral organizations such as the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), UN-Habitat, the British Museum, World Monuments Fund (WMF), Habitat for Humanity, and the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE). Moving to Canada less than 2 years ago, Mostafa currently works as a wayfinding designer in Arcadis | IBI Group and is pursuing his certification to become a Registered Graphic Designer (RGD).

Drawn to the belief that architecture creates a positive impact at both the macro and micro level, Karla (B.Arch, OAA) uses design as a way to provoke feelings and guide behaviours in order to benefit people and the future of our cities.

A licensed architect in Mexico and Ontario, she brings over 14 years’ experience working within the mixed-use, residential, commercial, and educational sectors.

A newcomer to Canada in 2010, Karla re-started her journey as an architect through a bridging program in Ryerson, joined the internship program at the OAA in 2017 and became a licenced architect in Ontario in 2022.

Joining BDP Quadrangle in 2016, Karla has been involved with many of our mixed-use projects including 332 Bloor Street West , CG Tower, which is a 60-storey landmark residential building in the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre,  Abeja District, a three-tower residential development as part of the Vaughan Master Plan, North on Bayview, a townhouse community and two tower mixed-use residential complex in Richmond Hill; 3434 Lawrence Ave. East, a 600+ unit mixed use with public space development in Scarborough, 224 Merton, a 40 storey mixed-use residential building in Toronto amongst other projects. She is currently an associate at the same firm and holds the position of vice-chair at the Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat for the Toronto Chapter.

An active member of BDP Quadrangle, Karla serves as a mentor to many in the studio, curates the material library and provides project lead training to newcomers in that role.

Ruchika holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Bangalore University, India. With over 23 years of professional experience across Canada and India, she is primarily involved in construction administration of multi disciplinary projects like mixed-use high rise residential, institutional, commercial, and retail projects.

Prior to moving to Canada in 2010, Ruchika built her experience working with some reputed and award-winning firms like Edifice Architects Inc., Archohm Consults Pvt Ltd., Sapna Kumar & Associates etc. Intrigued and inspired by the construction methodologies and real-time problem solving, Ruchika focused on building her career in construction administration from the very beginning.

Since March 2021, Ruchika has been leading a diverse and highly skilled team of Construction Administration department at Turner Fleischer Architects Inc. Ruchika is passionate about teaching and sharing knowledge. Along with continually providing support to her team to achieve professional excellence, Ruchika coteaches a unique course named Long and Short of CA at TF Academy.

Solution oriented and focused on providing timely and continually improved support, Ruchika believes in building strong relationships along the way.

Completely versed in all aspects of Architecture 25 years of experience in residential, commercial, retail, industrial and hospitality, concentrating on retail projects, corporate and prototypes.

Former HOK Associate

Principal of Studio Arriojas

Former member of OAA Intern’s committee.

In the last 7 years I have been a member as a Mentor for Triec, JVS, Iplan (a division of JVS) and OAA with over 40 mentees internationally and locally educated Architects, helping them to understand the Industry, Developing Job strategies and Professional Network.

I have been invited to participate as a special guest in Ryerson University for critique sessions and competition advisor at several levels, as well as guest lecturer at UofT.

I strongly advocate for design approaches embracing multidisciplinary responses. In order to achieve the desired outcomes, we must open communication across all disciplines. I have extensive experience developing projects across the world and diverse environments, this helps me to gain a sensible touch and imaginative solutions that enriched all projects that I have participated in.

Never stop creating customers experiences in all projects that participate with innovative thinking.

Tushar Negi is an Architect, registered with the OAA, and currently working as a Manager, Design & Product Development at Marlin Spring, a Toronto-based residential Real Estate Development Company. Originally from New Delhi, India, Tushar completed his Bachelor’s in Architecture (B. Arch) in 2012 and moved to Canada in 2015 to pursue a Graduate Certificate in Construction Project Management from Fanshawe College, London, ON.

With over 12 years of experience in India and Canada, Tushar has managed a diverse range of projects including low/mid/high-rise residential, retail, commercial, and interior fit-outs. Tushar possesses strong project management skills and technical proficiency combined with his knowledge of sustainable design practices that allow him to work effectively with an integrative approach with investors, stakeholders, consultants, vendors and contractors. Prior to switching to the Developer side, Tushar worked with WZMH Architects in Toronto and R&G Architects International in New Delhi, India.

Having experienced the challenges faced by newcomers to Canada in the architecture industry, Tushar co-founded SOSA (Society of South Asian Architects, Canada) in 2021, a not-for-profit organization where he is currently serving as Executive Director. SOSA serves our communities by creating opportunities for mentorship, education, networking, and outreach, and provides guidance to newcomer students and professionals.

SOSA LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/society-of-south-asian-architects-canada/

SOSA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sosa_canada/

SOSA Website: https://sosacanada.ca

Saravpreet Gill is an internationally trained architect with more than 15 years of experience.

Originally from India, Saravpreet was an eminent architect working for Govt. for 10 years. She worked as a design architect on various institutional, healthcare, heritage, and public offices. The diverse experience in the range and scale of projects with deep technical and construction knowledge has given a strong design and detailing edge to projects.

Saravpreet’s great interest in heritage and public projects has landed her in institutional projects in Canada since 2021. She plays a pivotal role in various heritage, institutional, and office building projects working as an Intern architect at +VG Architects, Toronto. She is a strong believer in an Integrated approach towards the design and execution of projects. She believes that active collaboration and recognizing everybody on the team as equal contributors is the key to the project’s success.  She strives for design and believes that design can improve the well-being of our society. While at +VG, Saravpreet is working on various school and adaptive reuse projects.

Ruth A. Mora is an artist and architect and co-founder of SUMO project. She likes creativity as a force for change and uses human centric design and art to build bridges between spaces and communities, focusing on the contributions of art in public spaces and communal engagement. Some of these visions are collected in her book, ‘Borders and Bonds, Art as a mediator.”

As an immigrant, Ruth maintained a distant connection with her country’s diaspora which, aided by technology and the multicultural aspect of Toronto, has expanded to other common-minded people, creating opportunities to collaborate remotely and globally. This has contributed to creating an inclusive environment in which varied experiences and interdisciplinary thinking are the creative force behind the work her studio creates. As an example, the studio is co-leading a research project meant to help integrate novices and newcomers artists into public art in Toronto called “Inclusive Mentorship: Integration of New Artists to Public Art.”

Photo by Devon Little.

Farah Al Amin is an international architect and designer, currently an OAA intern architect, with more than a decade of professional experience in Canada and the Middle East, where she received her education and co-founded Tri Design Studio before relocating to Canada in 2019.

Throughout her career, she has worked on projects of different scales, from art installations to masterplanning, and has been involved in various building typologies, including civic, educational, residential, and healthcare projects.

She considers every project an opportunity to be curious, explore, collaborate, tell a story, and ultimately elevate the human experience of living.

Ayxa is an intern architect at Gensler with international education and experience—and a boundless enthusiasm for architecture.

Ayxa has proven to be a versatile designer and has worked across a variety of sectors, including workplaces for major technology, financial, and professional services clients, as well as projects that range across sports, entertainment, retail, and hospitality. With an international background, her portfolio includes projects across Canada, Mexico, and the United States. This experience leads to her adaptability to different scales and roles on projects, making her a valuable team player.

Ayxa is passionate about sustainability, and believes architecture has an important role to play in improving quality of life. She holds a Bachelor in Architecture from Universidad de Camagüey, Cuba. Ayxa is deeply committed to her professional development, which has led her along the path of pursuing architectural licensure in Ontario.

Ramy Bakir, B.Sci. M.Sci, PhD, has 19 years of experience in design, management, and education. As a Senior Team Lead at Syllable Inc. he is currently working on management and design projects being designed/constructed in Toronto and Niagara, collaborating with team members and stakeholders located in different parts of Canada and Europe.

Before that, and for more than 10 years, he ran his own design firm, based in Cairo, Egypt, where he worked for years with design partners and clients, from different parts of the world, designing projects in the MENA region and Canada. As a younger architect, he worked in multinational consultancy firms where he remotely teamed up with design partners from Europe and Asia designing large projects of different typologies. As an experienced teacher, he taught architectural and interior design courses helping students develop their complex design ideas and solutions throughout the different design phases.

Daria is an architect and interior designer from Ukraine with international and local professional experience.

She has been involved in development of more than 40 projects as an architect or project manager in Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Saudi Arabia. Among the projects are the international airport in Kyiv, Dnipro, the national airport in Vinnytsia, and the science museum in Lviv.

She graduated with a Master of Architecture from Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture (2021) and previously earned a Bachelor of Architecture from Prydniprovska State Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture (2019).

She moved from Ukraine to Canada in 2023 due to a full-scale Russian invasion. Daria currently continues her career as an architect in the company WZMH.

Anwar is a Senior Plans Examiner at the City of Hamilton, Ontario with over 15 years of diverse international experience. He has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Al-Balqa’ Applied University Amman, Jordan, MBA from University of Leicester, UK as well as Architectural Technology Advanced Diploma from Sheridan College, Canada.

Anwar has started his career as a Sales and Marketing engineer in the Middle East working for the giant global multinational power and automation technologies leader ABB where had the opportunity to work on many mega construction projects in multiple sectors (institutional, transportation, commercial and utilities). At the same time, he had travelled and was trained in different parts of Europe (Switzerland, Sweden, Finland and Germany) which helped him to interact with and learn about different cultures.

When arrived in Canada, Anwar took every opportunity to learn and integrate into the Canadian society and job market from enrolling into bridging program to volunteering to travelling to Wasaga Beach to take a co-op position. Since graduated from Sheridan College, he never stopped developing his knowledge about architecture and building code by working for small to medium architecture firms and taking more building code (BCIN) exams.

Although he had to start a new career from scratch, but, capitalizing on his personal skills, past experiences, and passion about the built environment he was able to advance in his new path. In addition to the above, Anwar runs his small design business helping homeowners in their additions and renovations projects.

Zinnia Bookwala is a certified Interior Designer (NCIDQ, ARIDO) based in Toronto, offering 12+ years of experience in designing and managing projects ranging from residential, commercial, retail to hospitality in the cities of Toronto, Muscat and Mumbai. 

Zinnia directs end-to-end project management from combining her expertise in design, contract administration and technology with a genuine dedication to create innovative, value engineered and functional supportive spaces that shape people’s lives and influence their behaviour. 

Having migrated to Canada in 2018, Zinnia is passionate about helping young individuals like herself settle in and seamlessly integrate into the Canadian way of life and embark on a promising career path. 

Zinnia connected with TRIEC as new immigrant, seeking post settlement help and in subsequent years partnership with TRIEC to offer mentorship, assistance and support to aspiring Interior Design professionals in their employment journey through insights about the local industry, work culture & local licensing requirements. Zinnia is also a PINs Advisory Board member for TRIEC where she gets an opportunity to further help new immigrants towards settling successfully within Canada. 

Fiza is an Architectural Designer and Associate at Dialog. After completing her B.Arch from Pakistan, Fiza immigrated to Canada and has over 8 years of project experience in a range of healthcare, civic, institutional and residential projects. As an architectural designer in a family full of doctors, Fiza realized early in her career that her passion lay at the intersection of healthcare and architecture. Fiza’s practice has largely been focused on clinical planning and her design approach centers around the belief that well-designed spaces can positively contribute to individual and community health and wellbeing. She thrives on engaging with users and collaborating with integrated teams to generate innovative and effective design solutions.

My architectural journey started back in 2007 when I graduated from Minia University in Egypt. I then spent almost a decade working in the UAE, where I got involved in a wide variety of projects, from residential and retail to commercial, aviation, and industrial developments. This stint laid the groundwork for my career before I relocated to Canada in 2017.

Since my move to Canada, I’ve been on the path to becoming a licensed architect. It all began with my internship and passing the Exac (I’m just a few hours away from fulfilling the requirements for my full license). During my time in Canada, I’ve had the pleasure of working locally, first as an Architectural Designer at Core Architect from 2018 to 2019, and then at WZMH Architects from 2019 to 2021.

Now, I’m part of the GHD team, where I’ve been since 2021. I’m particularly excited to be serving as the Architecture Lead on the Ontario Line South Civil project, which is the biggest transit project in Toronto, shaping the city’s future.

Anastasiia is an architect hailing from Ukraine, boasting a wealth of international and local professional expertise. Her involvement in diverse projects across Ukraine, Norway, Great Britain, and Canada has seen her rise from a drafter to a project manager. Throughout her career, she has adeptly handled projects of varying scales, ranging from shopping and office centers to both commercial and residential buildings.

Anastasiia holds a master’s degree in architecture and urban planning from Lviv Polytechnic National University. Having recently relocated to Canada just over a year ago, she is currently immersed in projects centered around big data centers. Simultaneously, she is enthusiastically exploring the nuances of Ontario’s architectural landscape.

My name is Laura Salamanca-Moreno, as an internationally trained professional in Architecture with 15+ years of experience in both Colombia and Canada. Holding a Bachelor of Architecture degree and an Infrastructure and Construction Project Management Postgraduate diploma from Colombia, also an Architectural technician diploma from Canada. I understand the challenges that individuals face when navigating the different paths in a new country.

My career has spanned diverse projects, from residential , retail, and commercial. Currently ,as an Architectural technologist at Adamson Associates Architects working on what became my passion -healthcare facilities- . I continue to contribute my wealth of knowledge and passion to the industry. Beyond my professional accomplishments. I actively engage with the community through networking events and social media through a professional community called -PROYECTA CANADA- , sharing stories and providing guidance to fellow professionals.

Neal Prabhu, M.Arch, OAA, ARIDO, NCIDQ, LEED AP

Neal Prabhu is a Registered Interior Designer, Licensed Architect, Associate Professor and Co-director of the Toronto based Design Practice nkArchitect. Since 2008 Neal’s architectural and interior design work with nkArchitect has been the subject of several awards, articles, publications, and exhibitions including recognition from The Design Exchange, Canadian Architect, Canadian Interiors, House and Home, ARIDO, AZURE, Toronto Life, Designlines, Harbourfront Gallery, The National Post, the Toronto Star, and The Globe and Mail. Over 100 Architectural and Interior Design projects designed by the practice have been realized to date.

Neal actively contributes to the profession by acting on design juries for competitions and awards relating to architecture and interior design within industry and academia and has represented the Ontario Association of Architects as an expert witness in the field of architecture at the provincial level.

As an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Design at OCAD University, Neal teaches in the Environmental Design Program, is the appointed Program Coordinator for the Interior Design Specialization Curriculum and sits on several committees at varying levels of governance including Senate, academic hiring committees, academic appeals, and annual graduate exhibition.

Neal continues to participate in numerous University initiatives while actively engaging in architecture and interior design practice in the effort of building relevancy, strength and collaboration between academia and the future of the design industry.