Kashmir. It’s among the few places on this planet that inspire as much curiosity as awe. Its historical imprint, its legendary ski slopes, its magical lakes, what is it that shapes the life and people of Kashmir? It’s usually a question obsessed over by the world, except Zoya Khan spent her growing years here so she could live the question pondered over by the outside world. About Kashmir’s physical attributes, its cultural ethos, the lives of people, and how it conditions social behaviour, which in turn influences how they collectively shape and interact with the built environment.

The works of this 33-year-old architect, urban planner and artist based in Srinagar, Kashmir, are heavily influenced by her understanding of how human beings interact with their built environment, and her key areas of interest are the architectural heritage and vernacular building traditions of Kashmir. The contrast between particular and universal, between individual and collective, emerges from the city's construction, and that is the central theme of her works.

Just recently, she finished her second masters at Oxford Brookes University in International architectural regeneration and Development under a fully funded Chevening scholarship.