Architect and interior designer Norah Altwaijri, who took part in the UN’s Youth Forum initiative in her fledgling career, is paving the way for a brighter future for young women in her home country of Saudi Arabia
Two-thirds of Saudi Arabia’s population is under the age of 35. With a vision to reduce its dependence on oil, diversify its economy, and develop sectors such as tourism, education, and recreation for Saudi Vision 2030, the young country’s youngest people are set to be major players in shaping Saudi Arabia’s evolving future.
At the crest of this wave is 32-year-old architect and designer Norah Altwaijri. Born and raised in Dhahran, she spent the first five years of her life in Kentucky, USA, speaking English before she learnt Arabic. Her 12-year journey in interior design and architecture saw her receive a BSc in Interior Design from Prince Mohammad bin Fahd University, and a Master of Architecture degree at the University of Southern California. She was part of the UN Development Programme’s Youth Forum, and represented Saudi Arabia as a docent at the 2018 Venice Biennale.
The young architect is currently working with Diriyah Gate Development Authority to create a tourism and leisure destination for local Riyadh residents. “It celebrates the first Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, so we’re basically building history again,” Altwajiri explains. “I work with incredible Saudi talent. Every day, I’m mind blown. They’re strength of mind to say, ‘We want Saudi Arabia to be the best place in the world.’ I’m humbled to be one of the people working on it.”
What is your relationship to Saudi Arabia?
I feel like Saudi Arabia in general is a mystery to the world. It’s opening up now, but I think there’s the perception that women don’t have any rights, which is true in some respects, but it’s usually do to with how the men in the family feel about women, as opposed to religion or the law. If your family is supportive and they believe in your education, they believe in your cause and in anything you want to do, the doors are open for you.
Whenever I travelled, like I did with the UN—and I’ve been to the [Venice] Biennale with the government as well—it was interesting to me to see what people perceive Saudi women to be, and then to be an example of the opposite.
How does that feel, to be able to shatter these clichéd perceptions of the kind of woman you might be?
I’m actually proud and confident and I say there’s a lot of women like me. I love being a living example to people that have never met a Saudi woman. I always tell this story: Saudi Arabia is a very young country. It’s barely over a hundred years old, it’s very young. And I love to give the example of my own family. My grandma’s illiterate, she didn’t go to school. My mom was one of the first generations of women to go to school and get a bachelor’s degree, and the only career path she had was to be a teacher. And then me, who studied interior design, architecture and was sent by the government to get a masters degree. We’re just one family, three generations, but that’s a huge leap of development from one to the other.
Where did you spend most of your adolescence?
Mostly in Dhahran, the Eastern Province where I was born, one of the three main cities in Saudi Arabia, on the quieter side. It was a stable, nice childhood. Maybe the only turning point in my teenage years was my dad passing away in a car accident when I was 13. I do attribute my strength today to that event, and how I grew up; as a woman who is almost 32, losing a [parent] at that age, you learnt to do a lot of things and hold your head high and take on the world, basically.
But my mum is amazing, she’s a living example of an independent, strong woman and I think she was way ahead of her time. So I always had her support growing up.
What sparked your interesting in architecture?
As long as I can remember, I always wanted to be in the arts or a creative field. As I grew older, towards middle school, I would notice that I was very intrigued by buildings and surroundings. I’m very fascinated by the human journey through spaces because we spend most of our times in indoor and outdoor spaces that are designed for us. I’ve always been intrigued by the human element of these fields.
When I went to go do my architecture degree, a lot of people tried to tell me not to because architecture is not a female-dominated career in Saudi. Working in the States, it’s more males than females everywhere, it’s a male-dominated field. But I was very insistent that I did want to study architecture, even if I didn’t find a lot of acceptance. I was lucky that I did that because in 2016, with the shift in the Kingdom, there’s a lot of opportunities for female architects.
How do you navigate a challenging situation where you feel you might not be seen, purely because you’re a woman in a male-dominated field?
I let my knowledge and intelligence speak for itself. I don’t get upset or get into an argument, I would just prove that I can do it or prove that I have the knowledge to do so. I try as much as I can to keep calm and just prove my point without being too aggressive about it, because that’s how they label us sometimes.
Unfortunately, women in every field have to do this everywhere. Let’s say a man has to be good. A woman has to be 10 times as good doing the same thing and it’s a challenge all women have to face. I think it’s getting there; every year I’m seeing an improvement. I just hold my head high and try to prove that I can do the work and that I know what I’m doing.
What are some moments in your career that have made you feel inspired and humbled?
I’m very grateful that I was born in Saudi because I think that the opportunities we have as a young country have shaped the professional that I am today. For instance, when I first finished school, the marketplace for interior designers wasn’t that great. So I didn’t jump into a job right away. I signed up for a program called “I Discover”, which is with Saudi Aramco, the largest oil and gas company in the world. They had a program where they wanted to educate, I think the target was a million middle school students by the year 2020. So I was hired as an arts instructor for the arts program. It was an eye-opening experience for me to visit five cities and meet middle school girls and inspire them. Some of them still follow me on Instagram and Twitter and share updates. And the three of them went into interior design and told me, “We got into interior design because of you.”
What advice might you have for a young person entering the field and wanting to follow a similar career path?
Don’t be scared. If an opportunity presents itself and you think it will give you either exposure or, or an opportunity to meet people, take it. It has always led me to a much higher point. Always fight for what you want and believe in because when you have passion, when you love what you do, you will do great things. Everyone has ups and downs, I’ve had my share downs in my life. Surround yourself with good support systems, whether it’s friends, family, colleagues, co-workers, and just push through, because I think anyone can reach a point that they’ve never dreamed of, if they believe in themselves.
How did working with the UN influence you?
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was doing a joint program with the United Nations Development Program, the Youth Forum, where Saudi Arabia sends 24 youths to another country to participate in a dialogue forum. For me, it was Spain for an architectural identity presentation. We got a chance to see universities, meet students in Spain, architects, we visited offices and had an open dialogue. Back then, in 2013, Saudi Arabia was a very different situation, so the fact that I got to be with 24 of the brightest young people from Saudi, then meeting youth in Spain, it was very surreal to find myself in that situation, it was one of the first things that I did that was a large scale.
What kind of a contribution do you want to make to the world?
I want a young Saudi girl to see me and know it’s possible that she can be anything she wants and more.
Homepage image by Nona Musaelian, inside image by Hala Albabtain.
