About Me | IAR – Nadzeya Shman

Hello! My name is Nadia Shman. My personality is INTJ (Architect). If I ask my friends to describe me in one word, they will say “ambition”.

I am from Mogilev, Belarus. Various wars have always taken place on the territory of modern Belarus, therefore we do not have architectural structures earlier than the beginning of the 20th century.

The oldest buildings for us are the so-called “stalinkas”. They are characterized by spacious apartments with high ceilings, stucco façades, large front doors and thick walls. I have lived all my life in Belarus in the “stalinka”.

I grew up in an ordinary post-Soviet society. All my life I was surrounded only by post-Soviet buildings with appropriate symbols. But they also have their own charm and peculiarity.

MOGILEV VIDEO BY NADIA SHMAN

But we also have a preserved restored church. I loved to walk past it.

Traveling:
I am very grateful to my dad for having visited more than 25 countries during my childhood. This definitely developed my horizons and by the age of 12 I was definitely sure that I wanted to connect my life with architecture. Since the political situation of my country still leaves much to be desired, I could not stay there any longer and decided to move deep into Europe where you can clearly observe magnificent examples of romanticism, gothic, baroque… I like learning about architecture, what it makes us feel and how we can build for people and improve their lives.

I think there is no quote that could describe me, but there is one quote from Steve Jobs that I never forget:

“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”