Bringing Fresh Thinking to Dubai Architecture
Architecture careers rarely begin with landmark buildings or major design announcements. They begin with drawings, studio deadlines, site observations, revisions, mistakes, internships, and the patience required to keep learning. Kesar Joijode’s professional journey reflects this quieter but important side of becoming an architect.
Today, Kesar works as a Junior Architect at John R Harris and Partners in Dubai. Her interests extend across architecture, interior design, and urban design, giving her a wider perspective on how individual spaces connect with the larger environment around them.
Her career is still in an early chapter, but the journey from architecture school to professional practice in Dubai already shows steady progression, adaptability, and a willingness to learn through different design environments.
A Foundation Built Through Architecture Education
Kesar studied architecture at the Wadiyar Center for Architecture between 2019 and 2024.
Five years of architectural education require far more than learning how to draw buildings. Students are expected to understand planning, materials, construction, design history, human behaviour, climate, context, and the relationship between buildings and cities.
The process can be demanding. Ideas that appear strong at the beginning of a project often change after criticism, technical study, or deeper research.
For young designers, learning to accept that process is important.
Kesar’s academic years gave her the opportunity to develop not only design skills but also a broader interest in interior and urban thinking. Her involvement as Cultural Head during part of her university journey also added another dimension involving coordination, participation, and communication beyond studio work.
Learning Beyond the Classroom
Architecture becomes very different when a student moves from university projects into professional offices.
Academic design allows exploration, but real projects come with clients, budgets, regulations, deadlines, site conditions, technical requirements, and teams with different responsibilities.
Kesar began building that practical understanding through internships.
Her early experience included time with PNC Architects, followed by an internship at ANA Design Consultants. Each professional environment offered the chance to observe how ideas move from discussions and drawings toward actual project decisions.
Internships can sometimes involve small responsibilities, but they play a large role in shaping young architects. They teach how offices communicate, how drawings are coordinated, and why attention to detail matters when multiple people are working on the same project.
Making the Move Toward Dubai
One of the biggest developments in Kesar Joijode’s journey came when her career moved to Dubai.
After completing her architectural education and early internships, she joined John R Harris and Partners as a Graduate Intern in late 2024.
Starting professional life in Dubai introduces a designer to a very different scale of development.
The city contains luxury residential towers, hotels, schools, retail destinations, mixed use developments, public spaces, and constantly evolving communities. Architects working in this environment are exposed to ambitious briefs and multicultural teams.
For a young professional, that creates both excitement and pressure.
There is much to learn, and expectations can be high. Every new project can introduce unfamiliar systems, materials, regulations, or design challenges.
From Graduate Intern to Junior Architect
Kesar’s progression at John R Harris and Partners reflects an important early career milestone.
After beginning as a Graduate Intern, she moved into the position of Junior Architect in 2025.
The change may sound simple when written as a job title, but it represents a meaningful step for someone at the beginning of a design career.
Moving from internship into a professional architectural role brings greater responsibility. Young architects begin contributing more consistently to drawings, coordination, design development, presentations, and communication within project teams.
They also start understanding how much collaboration architecture requires.
A building is never created by one person. Architects work alongside engineers, interior designers, consultants, contractors, clients, authorities, and many other specialists.
Learning to contribute effectively within that network becomes as important as having creative ideas.
Seeing Design Beyond a Building
Kesar’s interests in architecture, interior design, and urban design suggest a way of thinking that moves across different scales.
Architecture shapes the building itself. Interior design influences how people experience spaces from within. Urban design considers how buildings, streets, public spaces, transport, and communities connect.
Bringing these perspectives together can create more thoughtful design.
A beautiful building may still fail if it does not respond to the people using it. An attractive interior may feel disconnected if it ignores circulation or function. A successful urban environment requires more than individual architectural landmarks.
For young designers such as Kesar, understanding these connections can become an important advantage as their careers develop.
Learning Inside an Established Dubai Practice
Working at John R Harris and Partners places Kesar within a practice that has spent decades contributing to architecture in the UAE.
The environment exposes young professionals to projects across different sectors and scales, including residential, hospitality, education, retail, sports, and community developments.
For an emerging architect, being surrounded by experienced designers and technical professionals can become another form of education.
University may provide the foundation, but the workplace teaches how design decisions survive real world constraints.
Kesar’s current stage is therefore not only about creating a portfolio. It is about absorbing professional habits, understanding project delivery, asking questions, and gradually becoming more confident in her own design judgment.
Growth Comes Through Constant Observation
Architecture rewards curiosity.
Designers constantly observe how people use spaces, how materials age, how light changes a room, and why some public environments feel comfortable while others do not.
Kesar’s developing career reflects this period of observation and learning.
Dubai itself offers a powerful classroom. Traditional neighbourhoods exist alongside new master planned communities. Global architectural ideas meet local climate conditions and regional culture.
For someone interested in both buildings and cities, that contrast can create countless lessons.
The challenge is to keep learning without losing individual creativity.
The Next Chapter for Kesar Joijode
Kesar Joijode is still building the foundation of what could become a long design career.
Her journey has already moved from architecture school and Indian design internships to professional practice in Dubai. Today, as a Junior Architect, she is developing experience inside a city where architecture plays an unusually visible role in everyday life.
Her story is inspiring precisely because it is not presented as a finished success story.
It represents the stage where skills are being tested, confidence is developing, and professional identity is still taking shape.
For young architects and design students, that stage matters.
Careers are rarely built through one spectacular opportunity. They develop through education, internships, difficult revisions, professional discipline, teamwork, and the willingness to remain curious.
For Kesar, architecture, interiors, and urban design are now coming together inside a new professional chapter in Dubai.
The drawings may change, the scale of projects may grow, and responsibilities may become larger, but the foundation remains the same: observe carefully, keep learning, and design with purpose.
Do follow Kesar Joijode on LinkedIn
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