Bipeds of Brookland: Azadeh Rabbani

Bipeds of Brookland: Azadeh Rabbani

Azadeh Rabbani managed her own architectural firm in Iran before she moved to the US to complete a master’s degree in Architecture at Penn State University. She moved to DC in 2013. “It is a very beautiful city, there is a lot of human interaction, there’s a lot of surprises, there’s a lot of diversity.  So when I was in Penn State, every time I said I was from Iran to everyone, there was a long pause followed by ‘cool’ and the conversation wouldn’t go further than that. But in DC it was accepted and people knew about Iran and didn’t think that it was just some desert country.”

After exploring some “terrible houses” advertised online, she found a room for rent in Brookland and said, “Wow this looks great, I hope he lets me live here.” As she looked for a job, she walked around and explored the neighborhood. “Every day I loved it. The houses looked great. I came to know the community. I really was inspired.”

In Iran she designed façades of high-rise building and interiors. “Tehran is a very dense city… just a huge compilation of different styles.” Her family still lives in Iran. Azadeh says, “My dad calls me once a week.”

Azadeh now works for Hapstack Demetriou, an architectural firm in DC.  “We do a lot of restaurants interiors, and residential, custom high end residential.  We’ve built a lot of things across the city and I really love that I get to do something in the area. The favorite thing for me is looking at the client's face when the job is done and they didn’t realize that’s what it was and we knew all along… It's amazing to see the lines I draw turn into something that people live in, so that’s very rewarding.”

Biped of Brookland: A weekly series introducing the people who make Brookland their home, one step at a time. 
Article and photo by Tom Sabella.