In 2012, I came across Sir Ken Robinson’s famous TED Talk “Do Schools Kill Creativity?”—a talk that deeply shifted how I thought about education. A year later, I had the privilege of working at a pioneering school in Finland that introduced architecture to children as young as four. That experience opened my eyes: architecture, imagination, and design aren’t reserved for adults—they are powerful tools for children to explore and experience the world around them.
I believe, children are born with an inherent sense of curiosity and imagination. If you are a parent/caregiver, I’m certain you’d have experienced moments in your life when they innocently but excitedly spotted elephants and giraffes in the clouds, or when the flowers bloomed in your yard, they said that the flowers were ”smiling at them” or like my daughter, 4 yo, said “I love jaguar fruit” when I gave her dragon fruit one day for lunch.
Children can find the most amazing ways to dream and describe what we, as adults may have lost sight of in our busy lives. Their curious minds feed on this ingenuity. But standardized schooling, focusing on production vs developing an individual’s inherent creative abilities, limited resources, and our increasing reliance on technology can limit the skill of imagination that feeds curiosity, and creativity is quashed and squandered as they grow older. In an age where AI is rapidly reshaping our world, the risk is even greater: we may forget the incredible human powers of curiosity and imagination we were born with.
That is why I created the Curious & Creative Studio. I want to build a space where children can explore and express themselves without inhibition—where there isn’t just “one right way,” but a celebration of every way. A space where wrong answers don’t exist, and where imagination is seen as the starting point for innovation.
Professionally, I am a design architect with 15+ years of experience across three continents, designing schools, biotechnology labs, and large sporting arenas. What has remained constant throughout all these experiences is the joy of creating spaces that bring meaning, purpose, and delight to people’s lives.
I believe that the hands-on, playful projects we do aren’t just fun—they’re essential. They strengthen creativity, confidence, and problem-solving in ways that help children grow into unique, capable individuals. In this era of AI, these human capacities are more important than ever. After all, the brain’s creative potential is infinite.
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