Jarin Tasnim Khan Assoc. AIA

I AM AIA

Jarin Tasnim Khan Assoc. AIA, LEED AP

I work at the intersection of architecture, sustainability, and constraint-driven aspects, shaped by experience across distinct geographic and cultural contexts. My perspective shifted when I lived in one of Bangladesh’s largest urban slums during my undergraduate research and came to understand that architecture is fundamentally about belonging and community. That conviction drives everything I do. Through my work, I advocate for moving beyond pretty solutions, questioning what we have been taught to celebrate as design success, and weaving stories. Alongside practice, I teach, maintain research affiliations, and show up every day committed to being a more thoughtful professional than yesterday.

I joined AIA Seattle to…

Stay close to people solving problems differently than I do. That kind of exposure is something I am genuinely hungry for. And the value is that AIA made the profession feel like a community I am accountable to, not just a career I am building for myself.

How was I drawn to architecture as a profession by…

My grandmother. She used to prep food, and I used to sit beside her and draw. She never had to give me much to work with: whatever was on the table became the prompt. But I never drew things as they were. A bitter gourd became a tower, an onion became a dome, a pumpkin became somewhere you could actually live inside. I was turning everything around me into buildings before I could even pronounce the word “architecture”. Looking back, the profession was never really a choice; I had already been doing this technically my whole life.

How do I explain what I do for a living to family or at a dinner party?

I turn people’s feelings into walls, and they are happy.

If I could sum up my outlook on life in a bumper sticker, it would say…

I’ll Figure It Out In The Next Draft

Something I’m proud of from early in my career is…

My decade-long experience of working with different marginalized communities back in Bangladesh, where I’ve seen how design thinking can restore possibility and bring new opportunities.

How has my community helped me get where I am?

Every person who challenged me, welcomed me, or refused to let me stay comfortable in what I already knew has quietly contributed to how I think and work today. Community, for me, has always been about finding people worth growing beside.

Where do I see the fields of architecture, engineering, or construction heading?

Toward harder questions about who buildings are actually made for, and I think that is long overdue. Good work happens at every scale of life, and the field is slowly starting to recognize that beyond what gets published.

What do I hope to contribute through my work?

I think the built world is slowly losing its human specificity, and I want my work to hold on to it.

Today I was inspired by…

My cat, Cole-Balish, “side pillow” in translation. He was doing nothing this morning with complete confidence, and it reminded me to slow down before starting. Advice I need more often than I follow.