I became an architect. I work and think about place. I went into design for ‘change’, for the possibility and the dream. For the inherent right to belong, claim space and have beauty. I am a professor of architecture and interior design. Teaching has helped me to listen, even more closely. 

I was born in Brooklyn, New York, but I’ve lived in London, Paris, the Italian Riviera and Jerusalem. I now live in New York City. For thirty years I have worked on designs for alternative living, museums, places of worship, sanctuary, care, schools, hotels, theaters, wellness, installations, galleries, stores, furniture collections and landscapes.  I’ve done this in my design practice, Dreamland Creative Projects, and have been privileged to work for visionary architects, including three Pritzker Prize winners. Along the way I’ve tried my hand at sculpture, painting, and psychology. I love writing, poetry and practice spiritual mindfulness.  

“Often, I’ve had the feeling that in the design process, there was so much unsaid, or uninvited. The people we needed to hear from - you - your vulnerable conversations were untouched. Designers are trained to fix and solve. Perhaps there is nothing to fix? As you might already realize, this podcast has been percolating.”

I wonder…will these unmanicured conversations at WHEREING, map a new creative space, which further seeds a sense of belonging? By focusing on stories, I hope to invite genuine, holistic and compassionate connections which might inspire physical results. A space, which begins with this lens, is transparent, a vessel for community and a platform for spatial, empathetic understanding.

I hope that WHEREING it will be a sacred, generative, joyous and irreverent space. 

Nina

P.S. The Photographs are some of my places…