A Design For Life

For hundreds of years, architecture has shaped the world around us: how we live, work and play.

Some architecture is beautiful, some can reach to the skies or live on the seas. It can be adored, or it can raise eyebrows.

But for one Manchester School of Architecture (MSA) alumna, it is about people. It’s placing the needs of communities at the heart of everything and designing the world around us to suit how people live — and not the other way around.

As the old saying goes, form follows function.

Architect Selasi Setufe MBE has been making waves with her people-centred approach to built environment design and her drive to increase diversity within the industry.

Philosophy

Setufe shaped her philosophy on the University’s Master of Architecture (MArch) programme at the world[1]renowned MSA from 2014 to 2016.

She then embarked on a career that took her to her current role as Senior Architect and Innovative Sites Programme Manager for Be First London, a company led by Barking and Dagenham Council to regenerate the London borough.

Still only 32, Setufe has also been an active part of the wider industry, sitting as a council member for the prestigious Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

She was also pivotal in setting up the Black Females in Architecture network as its co-founder and current director.

“It’s less of the regeneration and more of that approach to want to engage with people,” said Setufe of her design philosophy.

“[It’s] the more people-centred approach to doing things — not being so consumed by what a thing looks like or being super detached from what it is that people need. It is understanding architecture on a social and environmental level and applying that understanding.”

And it was the skills developed and shaped at MSA that began this people-led process. Setufe was attracted to the School after completing her undergraduate degree at Portsmouth University, followed by a two-year gap in which she gained hands-on architecture experience. This meant working in Europe and the UK and carefully building her network.

She said: “I decided out of the gate that I would take two years out instead of one. But I found it incredibly challenging to find a job. I did odd bits here and there. It was a demoralising time.

“I’m not from the kind of background that has the ability to support an extended period of exploring less conventional ways to work and establish myself in the industry without adequate pay. But I ended up making it work by some miracle.”

She added: “The setup and the ethos of the School was something that I was interested in.

“The School of Architecture is set up into different studio groups, and the studio groups have a certain key themes, ethos or design approaches that they work around throughout the year.

“And the studio I was in was very much focused around a participatory approach to design and architecture — designing around inclusion, designing people-centred places and spaces, and wanting to understand people’s needs.”

It was to be the start of a glittering — and still growing — career that could be traced back to a dinner table chat.

Born in the UK to Ghanaian parents, it was a chance conversation with her grandparents, who asked her what she wanted to do for a career.

She enjoyed art and design, and they suggested that perhaps architecture could be the profession to pursue.

Although her knowledge of the industry was limited at the time, it sparked an interest in Setufe.

“I became increasingly conscious and curious about space and how people use space. Ever more conscious and curious about design and how to design,” she said.

“I was totally clueless. I didn’t know anything about the profession. I didn’t know anybody in the profession. I didn’t have any points of reference in terms of people in my immediate vicinity who had studied a creative profession.

“But I kind of had an idea and ran with it.”

Advocate

Setufe is also a leading advocate for increasing diversity within the industry — blazing a trail for others to follow.

She said: “I met an incredible bunch of young women who were very much relatable to me, which I hadn’t had the full benefit of before.

“Typically, when I would go to any of these industry events, it wouldn’t be people who looked like me, or I felt I could relate to. But on one particular occasion, I went to an event, and there were other young Black women in the room. We related to each other on several levels and ended up informally establishing what is now Black Females in Architecture (BFA).

“And BFA grew and blossomed out of there. Now, this year is going to be our fifth anniversary.”

From this, an unexpected but not undeserved royal letter would come through Setufe’s door. It was an MBE for her services to diversity in architecture in the Queen’s 2022 New Year’s Honours.

And earlier this year, she was able to collect it in person at Buckingham Palace from King Charles.

But Setufe isn’t stopping there.

“I want to see more diversity and equity in the built environment industry as a whole. By this I mean diversity and equity in relation to race, in relation to gender and in relation to class and all of the intersections that exist in between,” she said.

“And I’m really passionate about creating great places and spaces for us to live, work and play.”