"That’s a really important ambition: Not to build just to build but to consider why you are building something in the first place."

Through intuitive, interactive spaces and communicative objects, London-based Swedish architect Pernilla Ohrstedt exploits the field’s inherent complexity. Her work challenges perceptions, reshapes the present and imagines a beautiful future in which technology helps create a smarter, more agile and compassionate world.

Beyond the words of “architecture” and “design,” how do you describe what you do?

I like to describe what I do as “designing performances”—performances between spaces and people, objects and people, and objects and buildings. I’m always interested in the interaction between things.

Is there an overarching philosophy that guides your work?

There are a number of things that are really important to me. I see architecture as a way of empowering people. It’s about making people comfortable, making them explore and making them brave. I think that the places in which we exist form us.

It’s also about creating things from minimal means. With a lot of money you can do a lot of things, but being resourceful is crucial. You have to ask yourself: Why am I making something? One thing we quote to our students at the Architectural Association School of Architecture is from Cedric Price: “No one should be interested in the design of bridges. They should be concerned with how to get to the other side.” That’s a really important ambition: Not to build just to build but to consider why you are building something in the first place.

Is your vision of the future pessimistic or optimistic?

It’s definitely optimistic. Of course, there are lots of troubling things going on, but one of the things we know is how little we know about the future. We just understand that it’s developing at a very, very high speed. We can’t foresee where technology will take us, but we know that in 15 years, there will be a shift that we can’t conceive of now. I feel incredibly fortunate to be living through this global era, an era in which we can take advantage of knowledge, cultures and insight from around the world. I hope that that continues. It’s fundamentally positive and empowering, and brings with it positive outcomes.