marketer of the month

EPISODE 221: Marketer of the Month Podcast with Dr. Harpreet Seth

Hey there! Welcome to the Marketer Of The Month blog!

We recently interviewed Dr. Harpreet Seth for our monthly podcast – ‘Marketer of the Month’! We had some amazing insightful conversations with Dr. Harpreet Seth and here’s what we discussed about –

1. Promoting cross-discipline and cross-campus projects for holistic education.

2. Emphasizing real-life applications of sustainability principles in architecture.

3. Balancing global exposure with local context responsiveness in projects.

4. Adopting pedagogical strategies for application-focused architectural education.

5. Supporting efficiency without replacing critical human thinking and adaptability.

6. Ensuring digital accessibility and equality for all users.

About our guest:

Dr. Harpreet Seth is an accomplished academic and design professional with extensive teaching experience backed by a rich career in the design industry. She is the co-founder of INTARCH International LLC which has completed a diverse range of projects across architecture, urban, landscape, interior design, and design detailing. Her expertise makes her an influential figure in shaping future architects.

Marketing Smart Cities: Designing for Inclusivity and Connectivity

The Intro!

Host: Hi, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Outgrow’s Marketer of the Month. And for this month we are going to interview Dr. Harpreet Seth, Head of Architecture, at Heriot-Watt University Dubai.

Dr. Harpreet Seth: Great to be here. Thank you.

Don’t have time to read? No problem, just watch the Podcast!

Challenge yourself with this trivia about the exciting topics Dr. Harpreet Seth covered in the podcast.

Launch Interactive Quiz

Or you can just listen to it on Spotify!

The Rapid Fire Round!

rapid fire Dr. Harpreet Seth

Host: Hi Harpreet. It’s amazing to interview. So we will start with the rapid-fire round. Just to break the ice. You get three passes in case you don’t want to answer a question, you can just say pass. But try to keep your answers to one word or one sentence only. Okay, let’s start.

Host: At what age do you want to retire?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: I never want to retire.

Host: That’s amazing. How long does it take you to get ready in the mornings?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: 15 minutes.

Host: Can’t believe it. Okay.

Host: Most embarrassing moment of your life.

Dr. Harpreet Seth: Being caught in my car, having my lunch by my colleagues.

Host: Favorite color?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: Red.

Host: What time of day are you most inspired?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: Early morning. 5:00 AM club.

Host: Really can’t relate.

Host: How many hours of sleep can you survive on?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: Four hours

Host: How do you relax?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: By listening to music.

Host: What kind of music?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: I like Instrumental jazz.

Host: Okay. How many cups of coffee do you drink per Day?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: One cup.

Host: Coffee or tea?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: Tea

Host: A habit of yours that you hate?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: Procrastinating.

Host: The most valuable skill you’ve learned in life.

Dr. Harpreet Seth: To be patient.

Host: Your favorite Netflix show.

Dr. Harpreet Seth: It’s not on Netflix. It’s on Gaia. And I’m watching a show, which is called Transcendence and I love it.

Host: Okay. Morning routine. Early riser or night Owl?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: Early riser.

Host: One-word description of your leadership style.

Dr. Harpreet Seth: Collaboration.

Host: Top priority in your daily schedule?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: Meditation.

Host: Wow.

Host: An ideal vacation spot for relaxation.

Dr. Harpreet Seth: Anywhere close to the beach or mountains.

Host: That’s nice. Then you live in Dubai.

Host: A key factor for maintaining work-life balance?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: Be very thoughtful about where you’re spending time.

Host: That’s nice. So that’s the end for Rapid Fire. Now we will move on to long-form questions.

The Big Questions!

Big Questions Dr. Harpreet Seth

Host: Hi. So these are the following long-form questions. So first question, as the Head of Architecture at Heriot-Watt University Dubai, how do you ensure the curriculum stays relevant in such a dynamic industry?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: So I just wanna repeat, it’s not only that the profession is dyHostic, I think life itself is dyHostic and the only constant is change. So how do we prepare for this constant change? So in the program itself, we have what I call the three-pronged approach. This three-pronged approach essentially is how you can continue learning outside of the classroom. Learning does not stop when you grow or when you’re outside the classroom. So we encourage this learning outside of the classroom. We do this by making sure that our students are outside the classroom visiting architecture offices, going on field trips, and getting the opportunity to interact with real-life scenarios. That is number one. The second one, which is very important is because we want them to be relevant and we want them to be future-ready. We allow industry experts to come into the classroom. So it’s inside out and then outside in. And these industry experts become a part of our teaching faculty. They have practices in Dubai and across the world and they come and teach our faculty. The last one, which is the third one, is also one of the very important ones. And the reason I say that is important is our students are doers. You need to learn by doing. So they get their hands dirty, very, very hands-on approach. And they are essentially making and doing and then they’re exhibiting their work, showcasing their work. So it completes that entire loop where now they get feedback from peers and industry also.

Host: So, Can you share an example of a recent curriculum update that reflects these trends?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: So a recent update I would say is because of the nature of the university, we are very global, and more and more architecture schools get into this format of being very siloed. We are only architects, but these boundaries must begin to get blurred. And because of the university itself which is Heriot-Watt and the school within which the architecture program sits, we have a lot of opportunities for students across disciplines to collaborate. They can not only collaborate across disciplines, but they can also collaborate across campuses. So essentially we have this project which is called the Collaborative Project. These projects allow students from architectural engineering, architecture, and civil engineering to come together and then work toward a final project. The second one is we encourage our students to participate in international competitions, which is then them working on an international platform. For that, we created what is called creative clusters, where students across cohorts a year, one student collaborating with the year four student can join together as a team and then participate in these competitions.

Host: That’s amazing too, you know, and you know that we relate a lot with what you said, learn by doing and that’s the motto of our college as well as learn business by actually doing business. Okay. So the second question is, sustainability is a key focus in architecture today. How does Hariot Watt integrate sustainability design principles into its program?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: Right. So first sustainability I feel is the most cliched word that we have right now. But also I believe in architectural education and any field it is no longer an option. It’s not an option. We all need to respond to the SDGs, and the sustainability development goals are critical. But within architectural education though it is very important. We are also beginning to see a lot of challenge that comes about in not the teaching and the knowledge part of sustainability, but how do they apply these ideas and concepts in real-life situations? So how we’ve tried to mitigate that within the program is first I think all across the world. It is about time that our architectural education, architects, teachers, and admissions researchers, need to reevaluate how we teach architecture. In that context, it becomes very important that now we start looking at what are those innovative pedagogical strategies in learning and teaching that can be applied so that students are more application-focused. If it just remains as an idea or a concept that is sustainability and you’re not applying it, then we have failed. So that is very important. So how do we do that within the program? At Heriot-Watt, in the architecture program itself, we are looking at real-life projects. When students are designing, they’re designing real-life project, which has a real clients, it has a real user and it has a real site. It’s no longer hypothec a hypothetical. And why is it so important? Because unless the student understands the ground reality unless the student interacts with people and the users, there is no opportunity to create sustainable design because sustainability is also social, it is economical, and then it is also environmental, right? So as long as the focus remains on the human, the people and they understand that, they can then resolve how can they apply these ideas in creating sustainable design projects. Number two I think, which is very, very important is how can we all collaborate? How can business students collaborate with architecture students? Unless we do that, we will not be successful. So at Heriot-Watt, because of our global campuses, because of the global outreach that we have, it is very much possible to have these cross-discipline, cross-campus interactions. So we’ve introduced courses like Shaping Tomorrow together. We have a collaborative project. Our students are studying with architectural engineering students within the program of architecture. So this dialogue across disciplines, across nations, across campuses is very critical to the success of us being able to make an impact through our expertise.

Host: In terms of architecture, what do you forecast the future of architecture in sustainability?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: Yeah. So what is architecture all about? Yeah. My personal opinion and people might differ as far as these opinions are concerned, architecture is all about people, right? It is just like any other service industry. A doctor makes sure I feel well if I’m sick, a lawyer makes sure he handles my case well, and an architect’s responsibility is towards society and the community. And his responsibility is to make sure that people feel well. More and more we were having conversations about architecture, and the tangible dimensions of how a building looks, but nobody talked about how people feel about that building. And those are the conversations which in the future are going to become even more important. And the reason I say that is because we have all these digital technologies, we have the AIS. If they are going to become the driving force, what happens to my feelings? What happens to my experience that remains needs to be the core focus and allow these technologies and theories to drive how people feel and how well they feel so that the impact becomes climate positive, it becomes people positive. So I have a sense of belonging. I feel I belong to a community and wellness positive. If people are not well, no technology, no AI is going to make the impact that we are looking for.

Host: That is so true and that is such a different and deep perspective. I don’t think so people usually, yeah. You know, look at architecture from that perspective. The integration of technology, such as AI and BIM (Building Information Modeling), is transforming architecture. How are these tools being utilized in your teaching and research?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: So BIM and AI are here to stay. They come with their advantages. So the way we’ve designed the entire program is essentially making sure that first, the students have the foundational skills which are very traditional, not BIM and AI-focused very hands-on when you have your ha hand your head coordination, very important. First, you need to learn how to use your head, and how to use your hands. And then once you have those foundational skills, you can use AI as a creative tool, right? But without those foundational skills, AI as a tool is a failure. So what we’ve done is in the initial years, we have the students having a very hands-on approach using their hands, drafting and sketching by hand, having sketchbooks. And very slowly towards the end of their architectural education, towards their third and fourth year, we begin to introduce AI and the BIM modeling techniques so that they can use these as an iterative process of trying to understand and allow the user or the client to or the juniors who come in for seeing their projects to be able to go through this entire process, which is the design.

Host: So what role do you foresee AI playing in architecture design over the next decade?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: Right? So AI has an important role in terms of quality, in terms of standards, but in terms of the time that we can save through AI, can it replace the human component is a big question mark still in my head. And I think it’ll remain. AI will never be able to replace the critical analytical, reflective skills of a human. It is a very, very important positive aid for the human, but cannot replace the critical thinking skills that a human being has and he can adapt and change and be observant. And that then kind of allows that feedback mechanism which goes on into the human brain.

Host: That’s a question even I think about a lot and I completely agree with what you think. It cannot replace certain parts of humans. It just cannot. Yeah. With the growing importance of smart cities, how are you preparing your students to design for a future where cities are more interconnected and data-driven?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: So data is available in a very raw format to our students when they interview the users or they get factual data. But what is important is what is it that they’re doing with that data. So if they can respond to the basic user need, right? That allows for not only cities to be connected, but more importantly, human beings to connect. The more these technologies are at the forefront, I feel there is a disconnect from human to human. And that needs to come back. How do we use these technologies? How do we use this data to connect humans to humans? How do we respond to local contexts? What is happening in architecture? Because of this globalization, every city is beginning to look like any other city across the world, right? So that response to the context of that setting is critical because then you are also responding to the SDGs. You cannot have sustainable cities by just copying ideas or borrowing data, which is not relevant to you. So response to the human response to the user. And how do these students then respond to the context for which they’re designing so that they are ready for any context they could be studying? In Dubai, you are studying business, right? But your contexts are varied. You could be from anywhere, designing for anywhere, and that is very important. And that will lead to a concept which is called localization. I’m not saying you don’t need to have an understanding of the global, but you should also have an understanding of what is the local, because, at the end of it, architects are defining how people live, right? And in a manner that also defines how people feel.

Host: What are the biggest challenges architects face when designing for smart cities?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: I think the biggest challenge right now is the cost that comes with it. The impact of that might be long-term. And our responsibility as architects is actually to educate people. And when I say people, we need to have a broader group of stakeholders. It cannot only be the experts who talk and understand smart cities. It’s the end user also. And the education at that level, at the community user level is also very important. And I think that is one of the challenges. The second one is how can a smart city be an inclusive, smart city. If you are going to create segregation between the ones who have it and the ones who don’t have it, right, then we are creating even more disparity when it comes to smart cities. So are these digital technologies available to all? Are they all-inclusive? Is a big question mark.

Host: Architecture firms often struggle to differentiate themselves in a crowded market. What advice do you give students about personal branding and marketing their work?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: That’s a very interesting question. Honestly, I think and a very important one because more and more we are seeing our entire world turn towards visual imagery. How good it looks has become so important and branding thus has become very important. But I completely disagree with the idea of branding. And I’ll tell you why, especially in our profession. So broadly speaking, two kinds of architects, right? We have the celebrity architects who are in the glossy magazines. They create what I call the wow factor. Oh my God, look at that building. Like, you know, and we have a lot of wow buildings in Dubai also, which is also important to a certain extent because then it allows that city to be on the global map of the world, right? So you have this celebrity architect, but then you have architects who are there to create design for impact, right? Who creates design for justice because they can be justice, true design. Also, what I tell my students is your design for the people, for the people who don’t have a voice for your end user. So the impact they leave with is an experience. That experience creates a memory for them and they want to keep coming back for that experience through that design, through that project that is them branding themselves rather than creating the most wow visual image of just a visual image of how the project would look. It is how the project would feel when people walk through those spaces and that spatial experience that the user has and how through that design then you’re creating design, that is climate positive, which is social positive, and which is wellness positive because wellness is becoming, and I talk about wellness not in the context of physically how well am I feeling, but also about our mental and emotional wellbeing and the way we design spaces does impact that too.

Host: The last question for you is a little personal. What would you be doing in your life, if not architecture?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: A very interesting question. I love the mountains. I love climbing. I do a lot of tracks. I love adventure. I love being in nature where there are no demands and you’re at the best connected moment with nature. I think I would be climbing peaks.

Host: That’s so different from architecture, right? That’s amazing. Have you like ever gone on a trek?

Dr. Harpreet Seth: Yes, I do. I don’t do it as often as I would. Because of life, right? But I do manage maybe two every year.

Host: Two is also a good number for me.

Let’s Conclude!

Host: Thanks, everyone for joining us for this month’s episode of Outgrow’s Marketer of the Month. That was Dr. Harpreet Seth, Head of Architecture, at Heriot-Watt University Dubai.

Dr. Harpreet Seth: Pleasure. Thanks for having me.

Host: Check out the website for more details and we’ll see you once again next month with another marketer of the month.

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply