Building Equality in Architecture Toronto (BEAT) is a volunteer-run organization made up of architects, designers, leaders, and entrepreneurs creating opportunities for community-building, advocacy, networking, and mentorship.
BEAT Talks are a series of discussions held at the offices of Architects across the city. Hosts will share their learned experience.
BEAT Talks qualify for OAA Structured Learning hours.
About the Session:
Join the first BEAT Talk of 2024, where BEAT Executive, Safoura Zahedi, will give a presentation and walkthrough of her installation, ‘Journey Through Geometry’, on January 27, 2024. This session will be held in-person at Stackt Market, where the installation is exhibited as part of the 2024 DesignTO Festival, following its feature as part of the Interior Design Show’s ‘Future Neighbourhood' program.
Safoura will share her journey navigating an interdisciplinary creative practice that sits at the intersection of art and architecture. Her talk will include an overview of her 365-day field-research project which took her to 17 countries and over 40 cities to study geometric patterns in art, craft and architecture across major historic Islamic dynasties, and a walk through of ‘Journey Through Geometry’ – an immersive installation that explores geometry as a spiritual design tool and invites people to contemplate, connect, and partake in a spatial meditation.
Event Schedule:
10:45 AM Doors open
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM BEAT Talk
Location:
Stackt Market, 'The Studio' Container #3-101 (next to the 'Solarium' Container #3-114)
28 Bathurst Street, Toronto ON
About Safoura Zahedi:
Born in Japan and raised in Iran and Toronto, Safoura Zahedi (OAA, M.Arch, BID) is an artist, architect, educator, and geometry expert. She brings a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approach to the study of geometry and how it can be used as a spiritual design tool to create spatial experiences that encourage curiosity, meditation, and connection.
In 2022, Safoura traveled to 17 countries and over 40 cities to conduct field-based research on geometric patterns in art and architecture across major historic Islamic dynasties. She created “365 Days of Geometry,” a now popular Instagram project devoted to chronicling her encounters with objects and architecture and reflections on the relationships between geometric typologies, material choices, cultural histories, and spiritual philosophies.
Safoura holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Interior Design from Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). She has practiced at prominent Toronto-based firms, such as Moriyama & Teshima, Lebel & Bouliane, and most recently Superkül, where she led institutional projects including renovations to Robarts Library and the CN Tower. She teaches regularly at TMU and is often invited to participate in design reviews and give lectures at various universities.
An active member of Toronto’s architecture and design community, Safoura spent a decade as Programs Coordinator for the DesignTO Festival and is an Executive Committee member at Building Equality in Architecture Toronto (BEAT) – leading art and design programming committed to advocacy for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Safoura’s independent work has been exhibited at the Design Exchange, the Gladstone House, and as part of the DesignTO Festival amongst others.