Sejal Patel from Kristina Zanic Consultants x Commercial Interior Design talk International Women’s Day.
The International Women’s Day theme for this year was ‘Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow’. While this is a new topic for IWD, it’s a debate that’s been running in the interiors and architecture industry for some years.
In our series of interviews for the March edition of the magazine, we asked, is there a greener gender? Does sustainable design have special appeal for women, and do they in turn offer something unique and gender-specific to the field? CID spoke to Sejal Patel, design director at Kristina Zanic Consultants, to find out the implications for the interior design industry.
Sejal Patel
I believe there is a greener generation, but not a greener gender. I see more commitment and initiative towards green causes amongst younger adults because they’ve grown up being educated about environmental impact. But I really don’t think that gender comes into play here at all in this issue.
As a woman, I think it’s wonderful that women’s efforts are being recognised at Expo 2020 Dubai for their contributions to various industries. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that that’s happening because we’re doing more than men in those particular areas. Instead, I think men and women are equally aware and committed to sustainability and to taking care of nature’s resources.
It would be a disservice to my male counterparts in the industry to assume that women care more about good causes in general or green initiatives specifically. It also puts an unfair expectation on women to carry more of the responsibility towards protecting the planet because we’re traditionally seen as being the more ‘caring’ gender.
We each, as individual designers, bring something unique in our approach to our work. I just don’t think that either male or female designers bring more to the table simply because of their gender. It’s about the individual, their awareness of the cause and their willingness to take initiative.
Firstly, more awareness is needed on the client’s side regarding their essential role in creating sustainable buildings. And even when that’s there, budget restrictions and a view in favour of short-term savings can hold clients back from really committing to the cause.
Sustainablity as a holistic approach
Sustainable design also greatly depends on the local sourcing of materials, and if this is limited in the country or region your project is located in, it means that designers need to widen their circle beyond the ideal range, Sejal adds.
The biggest change [during my time in the design sector] is the shift to a global mindset, with more countries in the Middle East now operating at international standards in architecture and design. With that comes a growing expectation for projects to meet sustainability standards, and green certifications have fortunately become a much sought-after badge of honour. There are also simultaneously more green initiatives in design at a grass-roots level, and more government regulations promoting sustainability at a top-level.
We are also starting to see sustainability being considered from the onset and with a more holistic approach.
For example, some hotels incorporate on-site water recycling systems and solar panels to reduce fuel usage in the hospitality sector. And hotel rooms are increasingly equipped with management systems that automatically turn off the power when unoccupied, while landscape design is incorporating more native plants that require relatively less irrigation.
CID March Issue 2022
This interview with Sejal Patel was originally published in the March 2022 issue of CID magazine as part of the Cover Story – The Greener Gender, which you can read here.
ITP Media Group and UN Women are proud to work together to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the Arab States.
