As a bookworm, Fariha Feroze was always mesmerized by the stories of ancient civilization & extreme engineering. She used to read about Egypt, Greece, Rome, Babylon, Mesopotamia, and other great settlements. One thing common about all these places is that they all are homes of great architectures of all time. Through reading this, a spark ignited in her mind to design places for people as a profession. A few years later she found her way to the Department of Architecture at Shahjalal University of Science & Technology for her degree in Architecture.
Inspired by video games, Navid Zaman Dhrubo, wanted to build things that make people happy. While growing up, he was very observant about the details of the product we use in our daily lives. He found it interesting to design a regular thing is more efficient ways. Years later his interest took him in the path of UX design, a profession he discovered while studying in Architecture on the same department as the former one.
A Gutsy Start-Up
F +Z STUDIO is an initiative between these two friends, who have always been partners in crime. They have been friends from the first year of University and were the source of inspiration & encouragement for each other.
In one afternoon, while Navid was helping Fariha to finish up a contact paper for a client, they realized how their skill sets complement each other. Moreover, they both believe in similar work ethics, which is the most essential factor in partnership. As all the pieces matched, they decided to work together and continue on their friendship more meaningfully. After graduation, they finally established their own studio at Matikata, Dhaka.
In a society where entrepreneurship is not generally encouraged, this sure was a gutsy move.
Along The Path of A Seeker
We are now in the process of discovering ourselves. We believe in hard work and commitment more than anything else. Our great disadvantage is that we do not have years of experience in dealing with projects. This effect on our credibility. Here we would like to explain our work process to the readers.
Firstly, we deal with every project uniquely. We build up a relationship with the client. Through more than one seating we try to connect with the project and the client. This helps us to develop a psychological bonding with the work. We try to find the way the client wants this work, why he wants it done this way?
Then we do extensive research on that particular type of projects previously done, both national and international. Our research does not confine in the realm of design only. We explore literature, economy, psychology, etc.
After research comes the ideation of the project where the core part of a project is done. We go back and forth with the research phase and this phase. We involve our client in this journey too, discuss and include his inputs in the process.
We may be a two-person squad, but we often work with artists, copywriters, photographers to finish a project. After the project is delivered, we do not close the gates yet. We do proper documentation for our future reference and evaluate ourselves.
Flagships Along The Way
Hason Raja Museum Trust, Hason Raja Foundation, The InCAP, Goni Plaza are some of our valued clients over recent months. We are very grateful to them for giving us wonderful experiences.
There are some names we should mention, who were our true motivations. Our beloved parents, our respected teacher K. Taufiq Elahi who was a great mentor in both academically and personally. Shamarin Dewan, Chairman, Hason Raja Museum Trust, our well-wisher.
The Journey Begins…
In a nutshell, we do design. User Experience design, graphical content design, social media marketing, and some other thing. The only criteria for our projects are that it has to be interesting. We want to explore on hectic ideas and seemingly impossible tasks. Stay attuned with F +Z STUDIO.
Introduce With Two Most Talented Young Bangladeshi Entrepreneurs
Fariha Feroze
Hello, I’m Fariha Feroze, architect & executive producer, F +Z STUDIO. My story began at my childhood when I was a bookworm. I had access to different worlds of fairy tales, adventures, and epic stories. I was deeply moved by the mythological tales and by the events of great ancient cities like Thebes, Athens, Corinth, Babylon, Mesopotamia, etc. All these stories somehow made me realized that I want to build things based on my ideas. Years later I have found myself in the Department of architecture at Shahjalal University of Science & Technology for my graduation on Bachelor of Architecture.
My alma mater is Feni Girls’ Cadet College. I was admitted on the 1st batch of the college in 2006. My teenage time was very eventful in the grounds of the cadet college. I participated in literary competitions like extempore speech, debate and also participated in various sports regularly. I was appointed as the college prefect. All these activities have shaped my life as I am now. From my experience, I have found the benefits of extracurricular activities as much necessary as the study itself. My roots are very deeply grounded in the cadet college, and I am a proud member of the Ex- Cadets community.
Career Synopsis: As mentioned earlier, I am an architect. I work at SYSTEM architects as a Junior Architect. They have a great studio with very cooperative colleagues.
Beside this, my friend Navid Zaman and I have newly established a UX design studio named “F +Z studio.” We are new entrepreneurs and trying to find our way in this great world of design.
Daily Life: My life is divided into four parts.
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Development: Every day I at least try to read various things for 1 hour including literature, news, and sports. I am trying to incorporate at least 1 hour of exercise in my daily life as we all know how important it is to be fit.
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Work: I work for 8 to 10 hours on weekdays. I mostly spend my Fridays and Saturdays managing the next week. Sometimes I work very long hours. Especially before a submission deadline. I do not find work as an exhausting. In the world of design, you learn something new every day.
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Communication: On every weekend I try to be with friends and families. I am a very social person. I like making new friends and hanging out. Good communication skill is essential for an entrepreneur. I often get great works from these leisurely meetings.
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Self-Management: This is the most crucial part. Cause without these whole other areas will fall apart. As I live a hectic life of a young architect and entrepreneur, I often find myself in a position that I have overworked for several days and everything in my home is messy. I am slowly trying to learn self-management. I cook my meals and keep my house clean. This gives a great time for self-reflection too!
Passion: My passions are books, people and places. Uncovering new plots in a book, knowing people better than earlier and experiencing new thing on a new location is what I live for.
One other passion is sports. In my university days, it was my lifestyle. I was found in the fields more often than in the classrooms. I played volleyball, handball, badminton, basketball, javelin throw and shot put. Sports have taught me many life lessons. Life isn’t all about winning but about a fair and square great game is what I learned from the games ground.
I was the captain of both my department’s and the university’s team for a long time. I had a great team there who has come across from various parts of, but we fought together for one victory.
Fashion: I am not into trending things, though I fully support girls’ who gave great effort for a beautiful look. I dress up comfortably. Sportswear was my favorite while I was a student. Now I wear black shirts and jeans. Occasionally I wear our traditional dress salwar kameez.
Pastimes: I have always been a dreamer. My favorite pastime is getting lost on different thoughts.
Sometimes I walk alone in busy city roads and watch people doing their jobs. I read books alone in a coffee shop. These activities refreshed me for life.
Goals: I want to travel the world and work as an entrepreneur remotely. Many people are living this life working as a graphic designer or, etc. online and traveling the world. This plan makes me afraid of the core of my heart, but it is a worthy dream to strive for. Creating a value without being present personally is essential in this kind of business.
Another big goal is that after I have gained much experience and some more years in my pocket I want to expand my own studio into international zones. At the end of my journey, I want to establish something meaningful for everyone.
My favorite book: This is very hard to choose because there are so many great writers and books around the world. Some of my favorites are Rabindranath Tagore, Nazrul Islam, Humayun Ahmed, Ernest Hemingway, J. K. Rowling.
The mantle of my favorite book changes from time to time. Once when I was a kid, I was very much into Tintin comics, at the teenage time the Harry Potter series genuinely motivated me. Now I can say “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho is currently in my list. This is a classic, and the readers should try this book for inspirations and making a dream come true.
Quote that I go by: This is a quote from Hadith,
“Actions are according to intentions, and everyone will get what was intended.’’
