My Story
I grew up with an instinctive sensitivity to space: the way a room can feel wrong even when everything in it is beautiful. That tension became my obsession, and eventually, my life's work.
My background is structural before it's aesthetic. I studied Architectural Engineering at the University of Jordan, which means I came to design through construction: materials under load, spatial logic, the mechanics of enclosure. My Master's in Architectural Design at the University of Florida pushed that toward what makes a space worth being in: advanced materials, detail, the decisions that aren't load-bearing but matter just as much.
Before starting Tamara Safadi Design, I worked as part of a multidisciplinary team at Interactive Design Architects in Chicago on projects at a scale most designers never encounter. At the Obama Presidential Center, 276,000 SF in Jackson Park, I contributed to the monolithic facade, interior conception, and material selection from early design through full documentation. At Hyde Park Labs at the University of Chicago, I was involved across 40,000 SF of amenity and community spaces from project initiation through delivery.
I take a limited number of commissions each year, which means I'm present for every decision: structural, spatial, and material.
My Philosophy
Restraint as Refinement
Restraint is not limitation. It is the highest form of refinement. The most powerful statement a space can make is knowing exactly what to leave out.
Material Honesty
Materials are chosen for their inherent character, not their cost. Aged timber, cool stone, handwoven linen: each one selected because it is exactly what it appears to be.
Light as Architecture
Before specifying a single fixture, I study how light moves through your space across the day. Natural light is always the first consideration.
Education & Milestones
- 2016 — B.Eng. Architectural Engineering & Design, University of Jordan
- 2019 — M.Arch. Architectural Design, University of Florida
- 2020 — Designer, Interactive Design Architects, Chicago
- 2025 — Founded Tamara Safadi Design, Houston, Texas