Fiyel Levent is a designer, writer, and the Director of Interior Design at MBB Architects. Born and raised in New York City, she holds a Bachelor of Architecture from The Cooper Union, and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and Literature from The University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

She has been the recipient of the Deborah J. Norden Travel Grant from The New York Architectural League to study ancient Islamic Architecture in Andalucia Spain, and The Stewardson Keefe LeBrun Travel Grant from The AIA Center for Architecture, to document the architecture along the Northern Silk Roads from Uzbekistan to China. Lectures include talks at The Urban Center for Architecture, The Cooper Union, Parsons and RPI, as well as a Cooper Union TEDx talk. She is currently working on a book related to her travel and research.

Most recently, she was awarded The Arnold W. Brunner Research Grant from the AIA Center for Architecture in New York City. Her project “Re-Programmed: A Constructive Narrative of Contemporary Programming of Civic Architecture in Finland; The Oodi Library as Case Study” focused on methods of participatory planning and community engagement that laid the foundation for this significant civic project.

Fiyel has exhibited her design work and objects at various galleries and shows, drawing inspiration from her interest in Central Asian, Islamic and Japanese architecture. By using the simplest of materials such as paper and wood, to more complex materials such as Corian and recycled Polyethylene, her pieces involve combining and reinterpreting traditional forms with contemporary fabrication techniques, achieving something close to the sublime in their relationship to light. Her art and design work has appeared in publications such as Dwell, The New York Times, Elle Decor and Interior Design Magazine. 

photo credit: Juliana Sohn Photography