10 Questions With... Ámbar Margarida
Original article posted at Interior Design by Carlene Olsen.
For Ámbar Margarida, principal at the global architecture and interiors firm Spacesmith, making design more accessible to all is a mainstay of her career. Margardia, who won the HiP Greater Good: Large Firm award at this year's virtual HiP People awards ceremony, leads the design of humane and uplifting urban environments at the firm, creating environments for some of the most vulnerable and underrepresented communities, such as the homeless, the previously incarcerated, and children in the foster care system.
Margarida, who grew up in Puerto Rico, draws on psychology often in her work, taking into account wellness and sustainable design principles when starting a new project. The designer, who also is a faculty member at Manhattan's School of Visual Arts, has reimagined spaces for organizations such as the New York Legal Assistance Group, the QueensEconomic Development Corporation and SCO Family of Services and has helped minority-owned businesses safely resume operations given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to teaching and her work at Spacesmith, Margarida also is a founding member of the Latino American Commercial Real Estate Association, where she advocates for Hispanic members of the commercial real estate industry.
Interior Design : What are some surprising ways you’ve incorporated biophilic design into projects?
Ámbar Margarida: One of the fascinating ideas is how biophilia can be reflected in spatial organization and other ways, beyond the incorporation of living things into the built environment. One example is a project in Mexico City we’ve worked on with Tod Williams Billie Tsien and Davis Brody Bond Architects, which is organized around half a dozen, accessible interior courtyards of varying sizes. We’ve also used unexpected wallpaper in the cellar level of a training space for a client. You walk into this space and the bright white, wood grain and big leaf philodendron pattern on the walls, brighten what is in actuality, a basement, with low ceilings and no natural light. A guiding principle in our workplace design is the biophilic concepts of prospect and refuge. Prospect is an unimpeded view over a distance. Refuge is a place for withdrawal, from environmental conditions or the main flow of activity, in which the individual is protected from behind and overhead. We begin space planning with these principles in mind and you will find that the spaces that are most used in any space end up being the ones that apply these concepts successfully
ID: I understand you’re helping minority-owned business create safe plans to reopen, what are some recommendations you’ve made?
AM: My favorite recent example is the Queens Economic Development Corporation, a group that supports small businesses. For coping with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we worked on two sets of guidelines: one for small offices and one for retail stores, which the QEDC provides to help their members safely reopen. We worked on a series of webinars and created written and graphic documentation to support the guidelines. For the retail businesses, we offered guidance on spacing of merchandise and customers, air filtration and the basics of air purifiers, and how to organize displays and merchandise, such as moving frequently requested items closer to the entry area or even outdoors to limit exposures and improve the customer experience.
ID: What advice would you give designers starting their careers during these very unusual times?
AM: Take advantage of this highly unusual time where everything is taking place online. Attend as many webinars as you can. Get connected with organizations that are inspirational or that you want to know more about. The AIA has been hosting incredible panels and lectures. This month I've attended lectures about designing for aging populations, and another on cooperative housing in Berlin. These were presented by experts who might have been behind closed doors, or in different countries, and now they are a link and a click away. It’s absolutely fantastic.
If you are a new hire in a firm, spend some time, every week, building social capital and relationships within your firm. Meet with as many of your colleagues as possible. Ask people for a quick coffee chat via video (face-to-face, cameras on is always best), and get to know others. Finally, continue learning, seeking knowledge and developing critical thinking skills.