Inspired at age of 10 in Sarajevo, P.E.I.-based architect recognized by her peers

Silva Stojak's love for architecture started early. 

When she was 10 years old, her father took her to a library in the Bosnia and Herzegovina capital Sarajevo, where she found some photography magazines. 

"I was sitting on the floor just going through these magazine and I actually remember every photograph — because first of all, it was good quality, glossy, nice. You know, in communist Yugoslavia we didn't have anything like that," she said. 

One photograph in particular struck her. "There was Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright and I just never experienced anything like that in my life before... I was almost transported in some other dimension." 

She asked her father about it, and he recognized the landmark Pennsylvania building designed by the famous American architect. 

"For the first time, I realized there is someone who my father knows his name and that design is something that's worth remembering ... This building is famous in the world. And in that moment I thought, 'Wow, this is pretty cool. Maybe at some point I can try to do that.'"

Stojak was recently appointed to the College of Fellows of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. The designation "recognizes her leadership in the profession and her commitment to excellence in architecture by strengthening our communities through the built environment."

'An enormous honour'

"It's an enormous honour because it's given to me by my colleagues and these are colleagues from all over Canada that I had some kind of interactions working with on different projects or [in] different architectural organizations," Stojak said. 

Six years ago, Stojak began Nine Yards Studio with partner Shallyn Murray. 

She said her favourite project — the Urban Beehive behind the Farm Centre in Charlottetown — was the one where the two women realized they would work well together. 

"We have the same interest in the public and community development so we basically have a same idea what this firm should be," she said. 

They knew they'd accomplished that when they went to see the beekeeper talk to a group of young people. 

"He opened the door of our beehive ... and we were looking at them. They were all engaged. They were all so happy to be there. And we thought. 'Oh my goodness, we did something.' This is something that actually is so important for the community because they are learning about importance of the bees," she said. 

One of their other community projects is the new Charlottetown Library Learning Centre. 

"You don't have a chance to work on that kind of project — especially here on the Island — often. And so for us that was a enormous honour to be involved with that and to create the space that's so well-used now by everyone," Stojak said. 

She said they are also involved in a number of housing projects right now, something that's critical to eventually easing P.E.I.'s housing crisis. 

"We are involved with many buildings right now, doing housing for seniors, doing housing for mental health and all kinds of other types of housing — and it is very difficult. We are trying to be economical, we are trying to be efficient, because efficiency is very hard now because you don't have builders," she said. 

I didn't really speak the language very well ... I didn't know the Imperial system ... But they were very, very patient.— Silva Stojak

Stojak graduated from the University of Sarajevo in 1986 and relocated to Ontario in 1990. There she joined a firm and started a steep learning curve. 

"I didn't really speak the language very well ... I didn't know the Imperial system. I didn't know drywall. I didn't know stud system. I didn't really understand anything. But they were very, very patient," she said. 

In 1997, her husband got a job at UPEI and they moved to the Island. 

From Sarajevo to Canada

Stojak said they were lucky to be able to leave Sarajevo before the Bosnian war started in 1992. Because they were in Canada, they were able to support many family members who were escaping the fighting. 

"My mother came, my husband's parents came, my cousin came, and they all lived with us, and basically they were all refugees that came to escape horrible stuff over there," she said. 

"My mother came maybe a month before the conflict started and she didn't even pack. She just came for two months and she didn't see it coming. I think people don't want to believe ... that your neighbour so sudden can turn against you or people that you know can turn against you. It was a very difficult time." 

About 10 to 15 years ago, Stojak went back to Sarajevo on a visit. 

"It's a very unrecognizable place for us. We don't have too many people that we know there anymore. We don't have a place to go. We are like tourists, like anyone else. It's very painful."

Stojak said Prince Edward Island is home now. 

"I love it so much that every time I go somewhere away, I'm so happy to come back. And I have that feeling of 'I'm coming back home.'"

Lots of light, and cozy 

Stojak said making life better for people and giving them a sense of dignity are important to her. And she tries to design as if she were walking through, or living in, a space.

"I want to feel good in a space and what makes me feel good is lots of light, white walls, very cozy spaces and plants," she said. 

"I would not design anything traditional myself. I would definitely make it more clean and probably more contemporary, but it still has to feel very warm and very pleasant."

Stojak said while an equal number of women and men are now studying architecture, the number of women working in the field is still low. 

She said Nine Yards is trying to give women architects encouragement by mentoring them through internships and showing how they can have their own firms. 

"In our office we are 80 per cent female and 20 per cent male — and that was not intentional, to tell you the truth. We're not trying to enforce any message there.

"But I think we are trying to make this profession more equal, and we are doing that also through organizations like Building Equality in Architecture."