Women Shaping Creative Spaces: Suzanne Zahr
Architect | Builder | Curator
In celebration of International Women’s Day, PICHA invited a group of artists, photographers, designers, and cultural leaders to reflect on the women who shaped their creative vision and the changes they hope to see in their industries.
In this conversation, Suzanne Zahr shares how architecture, storytelling, and cultural memory intersect in her work. Moving between architecture, construction, and curatorial practice, she approaches design not simply as structure, but as a way of creating environments that hold human experience, memory, and identity.
“Creativity has always been one of humanity’s most powerful forms of resistance.”
Suzanne Zahr approaches architecture as storytelling.
Working between design, construction, and curatorial practice, she creates spaces where materials, art, and memory come together to hold human experience.
Who are five women who shaped the way you see, build, or create?
My Teta (maternal grandmother),
Marie My Teta was the grounding force of our family.
She was a Catholic Palestinian woman with a dry wit, salt-of-the-earth honesty, and very little patience for pretension.
The voice of Fairuz often played somewhere in the background as she moved through her day with quiet confidence.
She cut straight through the noise and said what she meant.
From her I learned that authenticity isn’t something you perform — it’s something you protect.
My daughter, Sabine
My daughter reminds me that authenticity is also an act of courage. She explores the world with fearless honesty, largely unimpressed by trends or expectations.
Creating a home where she can discover herself freely has reshaped how I think about space, belonging, and what it truly means to build something that nurtures life.
Susan Abulhawa
The writing of Susan Abulhawa has been a compass for me in recent years. Her words carry grief, dignity, and unwavering truth.
In moments when the world feels disorienting, her voice reminds me that storytelling — whether through literature, art, or architecture — is a way of preserving truth.
Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo continues to move me deeply. Despite profound hardship, she expressed herself creatively with radical honesty.
Her work feels like emotional architecture in how she conceived spaces where pain, identity, and beauty coexist without apology.
Miriam Makeba
And then there is Miriam Makeba, whose voice carried resistance across continents.
She embodied the power of art to hold dignity in the face of injustice. Her legacy reminds me that creativity is not only expression, but also liberation.
“My work is about creating spaces where stories can live.”
How does your identity as a woman influence the way you design or build your work?
Being a woman shapes the way I think about space in deeply intuitive ways. I’m drawn to environments that feel layered, nurturing, and emotionally resonant, not just visually striking.
Women often experience space with a heightened awareness of care, safety, and human connection, and that sensitivity naturally informs my work.
When I design or curate, I’m thinking about how people move through a place, how light settles into a room, and whether the space invites people to feel grounded and seen.
For me, architecture is storytelling. Materials, proportions, and art carry meaning. Together they create environments that reflect the lives, memories, and identities of the people who inhabit them.
What structural change would meaningfully shift access or equity for women in your industry?
Real change begins when decision-making power shifts.
Too often, the institutions that fund, commission, and validate creative work remain shaped by the same narrow circles.
When women — especially women of color and those shaped by diasporic experience — are trusted as curators of culture, gatekeepers of resources, and leaders of creative institutions, the entire landscape begins to change.
New aesthetics emerge.
New stories take form.
Entire communities finally see themselves reflected in the spaces and cultural narratives around them.
What do you believe is your creative superpower?
My creative superpower is intuition — the ability to sense the emotional current beneath a place, a person, or an idea.
Architecture and curation both require deep listening: listening to history, to land, and to the quiet stories people carry with them.
I’ve grown to trust that intuitive process. It allows me to bring together materials, art, and space in ways that feel soulful rather than purely structural.
In many ways, my work is about creating spaces where stories can live. It’s where architecture, art, and human experience intersect.
What would you tell your younger self?
Trust the instincts that make you different. They are not obstacles — they are your compass.
There will be moments when systems try to convince you to soften your voice or narrow your vision. Don’t.
Creativity has always been one of humanity’s most powerful forms of resistance.
Build boldly. Travel widely. Stay curious about people and cultures.
And remember that the spaces you create — whether physical or artistic — have the power to hold stories that might otherwise be forgotten.
About Suzanne Zahr
Suzanne Zahr works at the intersection of architecture, construction, and curatorial practice, approaching design as a form of storytelling where materials, light, and art come together to create spaces that hold human experience.
Guided by intuition, authenticity, and a belief that creativity is a necessary force for resisting oppression, she creates environments that foster connection, reflection, and belonging.
Born in Southern Lebanon to Palestinian parents and raised in the United States, her life has been shaped by movement, memory, and a deep curiosity about how art and architecture carry the stories of people and place.
Whether building homes or curating exhibitions, she seeks to craft spaces that preserve memory while inviting new stories to unfold.
You can find her :
IG: @suzannezahr.inc
FB: suzannezahrarchitect
Women Shaping Creative Spaces
This conversation with Suzanne Zahr is part of PICHA’s editorial series highlighting women who are shaping the creative and cultural spaces around us.
Across photography, art, design, and storytelling, these voices remind us that representation is not just about visibility—it is about influence, authorship, and the stories that shape how we see the world.
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