What does it actually take to build something from scratch — while also working full-time, studying for a Master's, winning international design awards, and freelancing for one of the most exciting AI-first studios in London?

Today's guest is doing all of that simultaneously — and somehow making it look considered rather than chaotic.

Pouya Nasr is an Iranian-born architect and designer now based in Lincoln, UK. He has silver wins at the IDA Design Awards, an Interior Architecture Master's from the University of Lincoln, a role as AI Visualizer at Studio Tim Fu, and — as of early 2026 — he is the founder of Wandify: an AI-enabled workflow platform built specifically for architecture and design studios. I'm Divya Goel, your host at The Geeks Design Studio. And this conversation is one I've been genuinely looking forward to.

EPISODE TITLE:

Design Is the Most Radical Act of Hope — Joanna Nsenga on humanitarian architecture, community dignity, and what JI's model is changing about the built world

SHOW NOTES:

Season Two begins. And it begins here.

Joanna Nsenga is an architect and Senior Project Manager at Journeyman International — the nonprofit that pairs volunteer designers with humanitarian NGOs to build schools, clinics, libraries, and community facilities in places that have never had access to professional architecture before. 114 projects. 44 countries. A model that is unlike anything else in the design world.

In this conversation, Divya and Joanna go deep on what it actually means to design for communities in crisis — the rigor, the cultural intelligence, the stakes, and the extraordinary things that happen when a building is designed to affirm the people inside it.

In this episode:

• How Journeyman International's volunteer design model works — and what makes it rigorous, not charitable

• What 'culturally appropriate design' actually means in practice — and what happens when architects design from the wrong cultural default

• The moment a school changed its attendance rate — not because of the curriculum, but because of the building

• Why the hardest design brief in architecture might be a rural clinic with a modest budget — not a luxury penthouse

• AI's potential in humanitarian design — the parametric humanitarian brief that needs to exist

• Design 'for' vs. design 'with' and 'by' — and why that distinction is everything

• Joanna's 10-year vision: the complete loop between design, community, and the next generation of local architects

If you've ever wanted to use your design skills for something that really matters — this episode is for you. And if you're a humanitarian organisation that needs architectural design support, visit journeymaninternational.org.

Hosted by Divya Goel | Architect & Design Technologist | @thegeeksdesignstudio

Guest: Joanna Nsenga | Architect & Senior Project Manager | Journeyman International | journeymaninternational.org

#GeeksDesignStudio #HumanitarianArchitecture #DesignForGood #JourneymanInternational #VolunteerDesign #SocialImpact #ArchitectureForChange #CommunityDesign #SeasonTwo #DesignPodcast #WomenInArchitecture #BuildingWhatMattersMost #Africa #SustainableDesign #Dignity

Hello, my nerdy, geeky, brilliantly obsessed designers — Episode Six is here. And this one is for everyone who is trying to figure out where AI fits into their actual practice.
Naman Mehta is an architect, founder of IntelliBuild Group, co-founder of StageLens AI, and one of the most active AEC educators in the world right now. He has trained over 3,000 professionals across 40 countries — and he started, like most of us, with a frustration and a lot of late nights. In this episode, Divya and Naman have the honest conversation about what it actually takes to bring an entire industry into the AI era.
In this episode:
• How Studio Lotus shaped Naman's design thinking — and why that foundation matters more now than ever
• The real story behind training 3,000 professionals across 40 countries
• Why you should start with the problem, not the tool — and how to actually do that
• StageLens AI — building cultural intelligence into a real estate staging product for India
• Why AI amplifies your skill level rather than replacing it — and what that means for how you learn
• The curriculum lag in architecture education — and who's closing the gap
• The version of the AI story that doesn't get told: amplification, not replacement
• Homework: 30 minutes, one tool, one workflow — and tell me what happens

Tools & platforms mentioned: Grasshopper, IntelliBuild, StageLens AI, Flora AI, xFigura, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion.
Find Naman at @naman.ai.aec on Instagram and on LinkedIn.
Hosted by Divya Goel | Architect & Design Technologist | @thegeeksdesignstudio
Guest: Naman Mehta | Founder, IntelliBuild Group | @naman.ai.aec