Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I studied architecture but was always drawn to what’s beyond buildings: the underexplored ideas, figures, and practices that shape contemporary environments. Over the past decade, this fascination led me to a dual career of writer and curator: on the one role I developed a critical voice when writing about architectural and landscape projects, and on the other, I cut my teeth on the art of storytelling through visual and spatial experiences. I was the inaugural Young Curator at the prestigious Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal, where I developed my first forest-related exhibition, and then presented a more ambitious show about wood and forest sites at the Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam, which opened an avenue of curating shows dedicated to environments beyond buildings. At the same time, I developed my ideas about forests and design through a series of high-profile publications and presentations. These different experiences led to the writing of the new book.
Tell us about a bit about your book.
Designed Forests: A Cultural History is a globetrotting narrative that explores how cultural metaphors shape our understanding of forests, influencing real environments and redefining our relationship with the planet. The book connects stories from various times and geographies, tracing key ideas that have had a significant impact on forests worldwide, including those we often think of as purely natural. Each chapter focuses on one such metaphor—such as forest intelligence or the concept of unruly jungles—to examine its resonance in different cultures and demonstrate its influence on the work of designers, scientists, and foresters, who in turn shape forest environments as we know them. I believe that by understanding human agency in shaping forests, we can reconsider their functions and our roles in a world facing climate crises.
Have you always wanted to become a writer?
No. While I was writing silly poetry when I was younger, and was always reading a lot, it took me quite a long time to realize that writing non-fiction was my thing. It took even longer to find my voice, and in a way, I am still only in the beginning of the process.
What has helped or hindered you most when writing a book?
Apart from coffee, what had helped me the most was working in highly designed modernist spaces, preferably made of concrete. It is perhaps my design background, but such spaces inspire calm that I find necessary when connecting to the inner process that results in good writing.
What inspired the idea for your book?
I was in a forest in Montana a few years ago, and I realized that there was something eerie about the trees. They all looked the same. I later learned that there were thousands of trees, but they were all twins, germinated from the same genetic material and planted at the same day to grow together. They looked cloned. And it prompted me to look further, after which I realized that most of the forests we know are designed by humans. So eventually I wrote this book, to explain what is happening to our forests and how our ideas about “nature” play a role in creating our environments.
What advice would you give a writer working on their first book?
Read as much as you can. Don’t be afraid to be influenced. Throw away the draft. Rewrite and repeat.
What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about
writing?
I heard author and journalist Anita Anand say that “writing a book is like reading a book, except the book is trying to kill you”. This is hilarious as it is true. Writing a book is arduous and there are no shortcuts. But it is comforting to know that even some of the writers you appreciate the most found the process excruciating.
Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
I came to realize that in each research project, I encounter a hundred avenues that can be developed into future books. Some of these mature, while others wither. For instance, my next project, a global history of large-scale afforestation projects planted to stop the wind, grew out of marginalia found during the writing of Designed Forests. In many cases, you already have the best next project. You just need to check your notes.