Ivana Stanisic — How the blurring of the lines between live, work and play is improving our communities

Ivana Stanisic wowed me a while ago in a talk she did for PlaceLabs, the them was 'Belonging' her key message was the necessity of valuing personal agency.

Ivana’s talk portrayed her belief of how a sense of agency is not only important to people on an immediate, individual level, but how it’s key to the longevity and success of buildings and communities. “We have these joyful places which are socially and visually a mess.” Ivana went on to explain, “That’s why people go there, not because it’s a set of beautifully designed closed systems with buildings that architects have lovingly crafted… It’s because places have allowed people to move in, to adapt, change uses, and allow different types of people to move in.”

An Associate at Tate Hindle, Ivana has a particular interest and expertise in housing, as she considers this the most important place in people's lives – where design can make the most difference. The home environment – both the building itself and the place surrounding it – plays a huge part in quality of life and the wellbeing of the people who go on to inhabit the spaces we create. So I wanted to get her angle on how much has changed since we now spend more time at home and less time in the office.

She has extensive experience of residential-led, mixed-use projects and strategic masterplanning – both in the UK and internationally. She has worked on a wide range of projects, including all scales and stages of work – from individual buildings and streets, to neighbourhoods, towns and cities. Ivana is passionate about creating places that support communities and improve people’s lives – with users, insights, and collaboration at the heart of the design. In 2021, Ivana was shortlisted for the World Architecture News Female Frontier Awards – as an Emerging Architect of the Year, and was previously longlisted for RIBA Rising Stars in 2020.