Fatma Abubakar was born and raised in London and is originally from Kenya. She has always had a strong artistic foundation, beginning with GCSE Art and continuing her creative journey at City and Islington College, where she studied Fashion and Art & Design. Over time, her interest shifted toward architecture, captivated by how buildings and interiors can tell powerful visual stories.

This passion led her to pursue a degree in Architectural Technology at the University of Westminster, where she gained a deep understanding of architectural systems and construction methods. Eager to explore a more expressive and conceptual side of spatial design, she went on to study MA Interior Design at the Royal College of Art.

Her work sits at the intersection of design, environment, and philosophy exploring the emotional and ethical dimensions of interior space. Her curiosity is rooted in questioning how environments reflect, shape, and sometimes exploit the bodies that move through them. Blending speculative thinking with narrative design and philosophical inquiry, Fatma uses writing, film, and spatial storytelling to reimagine the role of interiors in society.

Her thesis project, Whispers in the Water, is a speculative film and research-led design proposal that investigates how government policies affect not only adults, but also children voices often left unheard. Using Kenya as her canvas, Fatma examines the corruption embedded in its governance and highlights the silencing of youth in political and social discourse. Whispers in the Water merges world-building, research, and psychological narrative to reveal how the Kenyan government’s policies exhibit indifference and negligence.

Through her practice, Fatma advocates for emotionally resonant, ethically grounded, and intellectually curious design guided by the belief that interiors are not just spaces, but vessels of memory, emotion, and storytelling.