Real Life Profile: Nisha Solanki
I had done fine art, graphic design, design technology and sociology at A level but I was wary of going into something that locked me into one area exclusively. I applied for both architecture and landscape architecture at Kingston but then I had my interview for landscape and they started talking about different scales, green spaces and urban design. It seemed different and exciting, a way of combining design with nature.
To begin with I wasn't really thinking about going on to do a postgraduate diploma (you normally need to do a degree plus another year if you are going to be a designer). Then I did a placement at The Landscape Partnership in London and found myself working on some really interesting projects. My final year dissertation had been about play and the psychology of play and so it was directly applicable to what we were doing: designing a variety of play spaces and making sure that they really worked for users.
The best thing was the feedback from the schools I worked with- they were really interested in what I was doing, particularly as their previous experiences with their local authority hadn't been particularly inspiring. I was able to suggest ways of getting funding and a means of making their ideas a reality. After that there were no doubts - I decided I definitely wanted to go back and make landscape architecture my career.
I am feeling really optimistic about my next steps am looking forward to beomcing chartered. I've no specific plans at the moment - I am looking to expand my experience in designing open public spaces but I am open to ideas.
There are so many possibilities - I want to explore all the options.
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