BE INSPIRED | FEATURE 07 Nilesh Patel
- Johannah Fening-Ajakaiye
- 13 minutes ago
- 9 min read
For our next feature, we are excited to feature Nilesh Patel, whose career spans far beyond traditional practice. His journey weaves through architecture, landscape design, and award-winning film, shaped by resilience, curiosity and an unwavering dedication to storytelling. In this conversation, he reflects on navigating exclusion in the profession, finding new creative pathways, and redefining what it means to build a career in the built environment.
Share a bit about yourself (Your ethnicity, where you grew up, what you do)
I grew up in the East Midlands and am an architect at the National Trust. My father was
born in India and my mother in Africa. All of my grandparents migrated from India to
Kenya when the British were building railways. One grandfather was an accountant and
partner in a cinema, which I learnt after his passing. I was the first in my family born in
the UK and visited Nairobi in 1970 to meet my grandparents. Whilst struggling with A-Level Maths, Physics & Chemistry, I developed an interest in design by reading Italian design magazines such as Arbitare, Casabella and DOMUS magazines in Leicester University’s library.
What have been the most difficult challenges you have faced?
An A-Level Chemistry teacher once joked about the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal,
India whilst explaining a similar chemical reaction, when over 500,000 people were
injured by toxic gas even though 80% of the students at my college were Asian. I find
this shocking even now and regret not taking action.
I was assaulted in the street around this time, and again when I was a Part 1 Student.
Some students in my year enjoyed listening to Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown, a notorious racist
comedian. During my year out some students earned 50% more with the same degree
from the same school of Architecture. I sat next to a newly qualified architect in an
office of 5-6 people who barely spoke to me, and I still wonder what type of architect
does that?
After completing Part II I wrote almost 500 letters but did not have an interview for 2
years. My later letters stated that I only wanted to present my work, at lunchtime or out
of hours but no-one was interested, even though the Professor of Drawing at The Royal
College of Art had invited me to teach. I ended up at British Gas, where I had worked
as an A Level student in the summer. Some employees remembered when I left to
study architecture 7 yrs earlier.
I paid for a portfolio review and was offered a contract by the reviewer. A couple of
weeks after starting work in his office I had a stapler/hole punch thrown at my head from
across the room. Luckily it missed. I left the office shortly afterwards but should have
taken further action as I think the incident affected my confidence from then on.
I joined a design company however I am fairly sure I was the only employee not to
receive a pay rise on three consecutive occasions. People would organise social
events but exclude me. I had never experienced this type of bias before. I thought that
everyone in a London design studio would share a common sensibility. I became
disillusioned and returned to live with my parents. My career had ended almost 4 years
after completing Part II.
I eventually joined an architects office and completed my Part III despite not having run
a project. Later at a commercial firm I noticed that PoC and women moved from one
tender package onto another and were always made redundant first. They didn’t attend
meetings, meet clients or visit site and seemed to belong to another profession. The
difference in opportunities was shocking. I regret not speaking up.
There are still medium sized offices in London which don’t reflect its extraordinary
diversity. Perhaps PoC are not interviewed because it is simply not possible that none
have the skills or experience. The absence of PoC must be evident whenever they
leave their offices, and I wonder how architects who work there can ignore this?
Your career has spanned architecture, landscape architecture, filmmaking,
and education - how do these disciplines inform one another in your work?
After Part III, I worked on commercial office refurbishments which I felt were of little
architectural merit. So for a new challenge, I joined a firm of landscape architects. They
invested time to develop strong concepts to create multi-sensory environments. A wide
range of collaborators and research into history, climate and context demonstrated a
multi-disciplinary/multi-cultural approach. I’ve tried to adopt this in all my work across
disciplines which I will expand more on later.
Tell us about your final student project - what made it so ground-breaking?
My 5th year work was inspired by the American artist Jasper Johns, especially his
drawings - which explored ways of looking/seeing, drawings as objects, dense surfaces
and expressing the flatness of the picture plane. It was ungraded and to pass Part II, my
unit had to produce a brief, programme, schedule of accommodation and orthographic
architectural drawings.
I wanted to test the limits of a student project and was inspired by Dada artist Marcel
Duchamp’s final work, ‘Étant donnés’. (I won’t describe it because it is troubling). Your
final Part II project reflects 5-6 years study plus a ‘year out’. I wanted to explore
different ways of conceiving and presenting a project, so my final year project was about
making projects. I called this the ‘project of projects’.
It was assumed that architecture could address almost every issue. In 1990-92 Race
and racism were never mentioned. My final project was about the race of its author and
was conceived so it was impossible to assess without considering this. It was an ironic
proposal, whose client and programme of requirements reflected extreme views,
however the building design resembled the work of celebrated ‘high-tech’ architects. I
was a student delivering a project as if I was running an office and it was drawn to mimic
production drawings. It has never been published or exhibited and may have been
rejected immediately by the RIBA Presidents Medals. After completing it I met artist
Eddie Chambers.
What led you to filmmaking, and how does it intersect with your architectural thinking?
My Mother is a cineaste. She saw ‘The Godfather’ when it was released and took me to
see ‘JAWS’ at night when I was 8 yrs old in 1975! I became more interested in film
whist studying architecture as it was also multi-disciplinary. Films affect audiences.
My Part II work could not have been produced without a group of brilliant tutors who
were incredibly articulate, literally and visually. Their influence continues and informs
my films and designs.
Film is a powerful medium for storytelling. How do you use it to explore architecture and the built environment?
I felt that architectural and landscape proposals presented designed environments as
overwhelmingly positive. In visuals everyone smiles under blue skies. These 3-
dimensional views seemed rather one-dimensional which led me to make a short film
about the Foot and Mouth Crisis because I recalled the disturbing images of thousands
of livestock being burnt: Great and Small — The Architects Film Studio
Having made a film about landscape, I decided to make an architectural film after
viewing those by architectural photographers. I selected a Stirling Prize shortlisted
project by Níall McLaughlin Architects because every leading photographer had already
photographed it, the RIBA had made a film and wanted a challenge.
My aim was to convey the overall concept, a lantern-like Chapel composed of stone,
timber and light. The then Chairman of the Royal Academy emailed to compliment the
“…beautiful, abstract photography…”. It premiered at the Architecture and Design Film
Festival in New York in 2016 where I met the daughter of Mexican born Pedro E.
Guerrero who photographed for Frank Lloyd Wright. She was introducing a new
documentary about him: Bishop Edward King Chapel — The Architects Film Studio
I failed to generate UK interest in my film, secure representation with a photographic
agency or a commission and later co-wrote an article for the Society of Architectural
Historians of Great Britain about PoC and architectural photography, a profession which
seemed to have an issue re: diversity. The title was inspired by the track ‘We People
Who are Darker Than Blue’ by Curtis Mayfiel. He did the soundtrack for ‘SUPERFLY.
One of your films qualified for the Oscars and is in the MoMA collection. What was the story behind that project?
I was a Project Architect but wasn’t designing, or even selecting/specifying anything. So I
made a short documentary film to celebrate my Mother’s creativity. She was developing
Rheumatoid Arthritis after working in factories and I wanted to record her in case it
affected her hands. I had read that Italian-American director of ‘GoodFellas’. Martin
Scorsese had made a short documentary about his parents in the 1970’s, in
which his Mother cooks pasta sauce at the end. I felt that my Mother deserved a
similar tribute. I wasn’t sure it would be accepted as a documentary but winning first
prize at a Documentary Festival, whose Chair is Martin Scorsese, qualified it for the Short
Documentary Oscar category. It wasn’t nominated but it was exciting to get so close.
What do you think film can capture about architecture that traditional drawings and models cannot?
A filmmaker can control what is in every frame of film, their sequence, shot and scene
length and what you hear or don’t hear at any moment. It can also present and
control time via cuts, flashbacks, flash forwards, freeze frames. Film can capture and
convey a sense of movement in a way that 2D architectural drawings or stills can’t and
also have a stronger emotional effect on the viewer.
Can you share a project where your filmmaking perspective changed the way you approached architecture or landscape design?
I made a short about my Victorian Cottage refurbishment that presents a range of image
types including holiday footage. I wanted to demonstrate the value of using an architect
to transform a tiny dwelling. I included images of decorative objects and soft furnishings
in my film because I don’t see people like myself in Interior Design/Decoration
magazines.
If you could redesign the way architecture is taught, what would you change?
I think this ‘Be Inspired’ article series and other schemes for PoC are brilliant. I wish there had been similar initiatives when I was an undergraduate. The cost of studying architecture is
frightening. My parents had very low paid jobs – I’m not sure I could consider it now. Mentoring can help foster industry connections early. A few weeks work in summer holidays could help you earn and learn before a Year Out. I was lucky and worked for my local authority’s architects throughout Part 1.
There could be more collaboration with colleges for builders, so architects could maybe
partner with a team when they finish Part II to tender for projects as a group with shared
interests. They could develop careers together as developer/designer/contractor.
What’s one radical idea you think the architecture industry isn’t ready for, but should be?
A good work/life balance from day one until you retire.
How can architects learn from other disciplines, rather than focusing solely on traditional practice?
I like to learn how other objects/projects are created, e.g. the making of classic album.
There is often something in their approach you can borrow or adapt. If you are running
a practice, it might be helpful to have visits or placements in other industries.
If you could go back and give student Nilesh one piece of advice, what would it be?
I would have thought about my career much earlier and tried to design it to suit my skills
and interests.
What’s next for you? Are there any projects, architecture, film, or otherwise, that you’re particularly excited about?
I wrote a short film script whose theme was racism and football, just as Gurinder
Chadha released ‘Bend it Like Beckham’. Sir Bobby Charlton wrote to me after reading
it, but I couldn’t raise finance despite contacting every Premiere League club and major
sponsors. Black players still suffer abuse, so I’d still like to make it. I want it to screen
at half-time during the World Cup final. I have developed proposals for feature length
documentaries and a feature film script as I still dream about a Cannes premiere.
I’d still like to design my own house, however small.
Connect with Nilesh.
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