Landscape Welcomes Sheila Fakurnejad as Program Manager.
We're excited to welcome Sheila Fakurnejad
as Program Manager at Landscape.
Sheila is a creative producer with over a decade of experience building communities at the intersection of science, art, and innovation. Her work spans exhibition production, science communication, and speculative design projects connecting research institutions with public audiences.
With a background developing frontier technology partnerships at Newlab and leading innovation initiatives for IKEA’s research lab SPACE10, Sheila brings a unique perspective on how place shapes ideas and interactions.
Strategist & Programming Lead, Ben Tear interviewed Sheila to learn more about her background.
Sheila is a creative producer with over a decade of experience building communities at the intersection of science, art, and innovation. Her work spans exhibition production, science communication, and speculative design projects connecting research institutions with public audiences.
With a background developing frontier technology partnerships at Newlab and leading innovation initiatives for IKEA’s research lab SPACE10, Sheila brings a unique perspective on how place shapes ideas and interactions.
Strategist & Programming Lead, Ben Tear interviewed Sheila to learn more about her background.
“Having a space where we can experiment with programming, both culturally and through a rich discourse on design and social challenges, has been super rewarding, and a common thread throughout all the different teams I’ve been a part of.”
Ben Tear: Welcome to Landscape, Sheila. I wonder if you could just introduce yourself.
Sheila Fakurnejad: Happy to! Over the past decade, I’ve worked as a creative producer in San Francisco, New York, Switzerland, and Copenhagen. I consider myself a generalist, but the throughline in my work is fostering community around different centers of innovation with an awareness of how place shapes ideas and communities.
BT: What sort of academic path led you to this?
SF: I studied neuroscience in undergrad, but as I struggled through all my organic chemistry and genetics classes it became pretty apparent that I wasn’t about to pursue medicine. What did spark my interest was exploring novel ways to get science research out of a lab setting. I wanted to know how I could create encounters with the sciences that felt participatory — like mediating research through the arts and design.
I moved to Switzerland to do a masters in international management, then came back to San Francisco to join the team at swissnex, an organization aimed at developing international collaborations at the intersection of science, arts, and society.
BT: What kind of exhibitions did you put on there?
SF: One exciting exhibition I supported the production of was Mental Work, a collaboration between Neuroprosthetics researcher Jose Millán of EPFL, and San Francisco based experimental philosopher Jonathon Keats. The exhibition allowed visitors to control these incredible chrome machines using their thoughts via brain-machine interfaces, and the anonymized data was made available to the scientific community to improve cognitive interfaces.
I think previous sample sizes for that kind of study were in the couple dozen, but we had hundreds of people come through the exhibition. It advanced the research, and the experience demystified a technology that otherwise would have been inaccessible to a general audience. Science communication isn’t just about clarity, it’s also about credibility, and making an idea feel shared is an effective way to build trust in scientific institutions, especially now.
BT: Could you talk about how that came to fruition with your work at New Lab in New York?
SF: Newlab was home to hundreds of inspiring technologists and entrepreneurs, and reaffirmed my belief that place-based communities generate value far greater than the sum of their individual parts. A big part of our work was creating opportunities to apply frontier technologies to critical challenges across legacy industries.
BT: What kind of industries were those?
SF: We were working with companies in mining, shipping, automotive, and climate tech– it was a lot of translating between worlds. A chemical tech startup developing novel toxin detection methods for food safety might not be aware that their product can also be applied across a mineral mining supply chain, so we were trying unblock opportunities for both sides of a very expansive innovation ecosystem.
BT: Can you talk about moving to Copenhagen to work for SPACE10, IKEA’s global research and design lab?
SF: The work at SPACE10 was definitely more public than my previous roles, and it was the first time I was working in an environment that prioritized the highly visual and playful. No more long reports that no one was going to read. Our focus ranged from conversational interfaces, reimagining the iconic IKEA meatball, and re-invisioning our homes. Producing public programs and exhibitions at our HQ in Copenhagen, while also setting up satellite offices and pop-ups in Delhi, London, NYC, and Mexico City allowed us to both foster a community locally and across the globe.
At SPACE10 we used the term ‘post-rationalization’ often. Sometimes the most interesting ideas emerged before we could fully explain them, and putting things in front of our community early, and using their input to refine both the concept and the narrative helped us find the balance of exploration and clear storytelling. I always encourage pursuing ideas that exist somewhere between intuition and articulation– sometimes you just don’t know what the outcome of an initiative will be until years later.
BT: What things are you excited about with DOG in this coming year?
SF: Having a space where we can experiment with programming, both culturally and through a rich discourse on design and social challenges, has been super rewarding, and a common thread throughout all the different teams I’ve been a part of. Another reminder of how the power of gathering in person, in a beautifully designed space, can break down walls and allow people to feel curious about the world around them.
The music program we are collaborating on with Chris Latina has been especially energizing. It resonates with people who are deeply rooted in electronic and computer music, but it’s also welcoming to folks who are curious to learn more. That inclusivity feels important, we really want DOG to be a place where anyone, regardless of expertise, can come in, feel welcomed, discover something new, and connect with others.
BT: One last thing I wanted to ask you is, what are you into right now? Are there any music or books or films that are really inspiring to you right now?
SF: I host a monthly show on Lower Grand Radio, a community radio station based in Oakland. Such a generous community of talented hosts and passionate people sustaining the station for over a decade– I recommend everyone to tune in and check out the range of brilliant shows!
I just finished the book Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, which laid out a pretty hilarious and accurate take on the creative Euro expat life. Now that I closed that chapter of my own, I’ll admit it was a little satisfying to read a story that satirized an experience I know well, and a reminder of why it's felt great to find roots back in my hometown.
Sheila Fakurnejad: Happy to! Over the past decade, I’ve worked as a creative producer in San Francisco, New York, Switzerland, and Copenhagen. I consider myself a generalist, but the throughline in my work is fostering community around different centers of innovation with an awareness of how place shapes ideas and communities.
BT: What sort of academic path led you to this?
SF: I studied neuroscience in undergrad, but as I struggled through all my organic chemistry and genetics classes it became pretty apparent that I wasn’t about to pursue medicine. What did spark my interest was exploring novel ways to get science research out of a lab setting. I wanted to know how I could create encounters with the sciences that felt participatory — like mediating research through the arts and design.
I moved to Switzerland to do a masters in international management, then came back to San Francisco to join the team at swissnex, an organization aimed at developing international collaborations at the intersection of science, arts, and society.
BT: What kind of exhibitions did you put on there?
SF: One exciting exhibition I supported the production of was Mental Work, a collaboration between Neuroprosthetics researcher Jose Millán of EPFL, and San Francisco based experimental philosopher Jonathon Keats. The exhibition allowed visitors to control these incredible chrome machines using their thoughts via brain-machine interfaces, and the anonymized data was made available to the scientific community to improve cognitive interfaces.
I think previous sample sizes for that kind of study were in the couple dozen, but we had hundreds of people come through the exhibition. It advanced the research, and the experience demystified a technology that otherwise would have been inaccessible to a general audience. Science communication isn’t just about clarity, it’s also about credibility, and making an idea feel shared is an effective way to build trust in scientific institutions, especially now.
BT: Could you talk about how that came to fruition with your work at New Lab in New York?
SF: Newlab was home to hundreds of inspiring technologists and entrepreneurs, and reaffirmed my belief that place-based communities generate value far greater than the sum of their individual parts. A big part of our work was creating opportunities to apply frontier technologies to critical challenges across legacy industries.
BT: What kind of industries were those?
SF: We were working with companies in mining, shipping, automotive, and climate tech– it was a lot of translating between worlds. A chemical tech startup developing novel toxin detection methods for food safety might not be aware that their product can also be applied across a mineral mining supply chain, so we were trying unblock opportunities for both sides of a very expansive innovation ecosystem.
BT: Can you talk about moving to Copenhagen to work for SPACE10, IKEA’s global research and design lab?
SF: The work at SPACE10 was definitely more public than my previous roles, and it was the first time I was working in an environment that prioritized the highly visual and playful. No more long reports that no one was going to read. Our focus ranged from conversational interfaces, reimagining the iconic IKEA meatball, and re-invisioning our homes. Producing public programs and exhibitions at our HQ in Copenhagen, while also setting up satellite offices and pop-ups in Delhi, London, NYC, and Mexico City allowed us to both foster a community locally and across the globe.
At SPACE10 we used the term ‘post-rationalization’ often. Sometimes the most interesting ideas emerged before we could fully explain them, and putting things in front of our community early, and using their input to refine both the concept and the narrative helped us find the balance of exploration and clear storytelling. I always encourage pursuing ideas that exist somewhere between intuition and articulation– sometimes you just don’t know what the outcome of an initiative will be until years later.
BT: What things are you excited about with DOG in this coming year?
SF: Having a space where we can experiment with programming, both culturally and through a rich discourse on design and social challenges, has been super rewarding, and a common thread throughout all the different teams I’ve been a part of. Another reminder of how the power of gathering in person, in a beautifully designed space, can break down walls and allow people to feel curious about the world around them.
The music program we are collaborating on with Chris Latina has been especially energizing. It resonates with people who are deeply rooted in electronic and computer music, but it’s also welcoming to folks who are curious to learn more. That inclusivity feels important, we really want DOG to be a place where anyone, regardless of expertise, can come in, feel welcomed, discover something new, and connect with others.
BT: One last thing I wanted to ask you is, what are you into right now? Are there any music or books or films that are really inspiring to you right now?
SF: I host a monthly show on Lower Grand Radio, a community radio station based in Oakland. Such a generous community of talented hosts and passionate people sustaining the station for over a decade– I recommend everyone to tune in and check out the range of brilliant shows!
I just finished the book Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, which laid out a pretty hilarious and accurate take on the creative Euro expat life. Now that I closed that chapter of my own, I’ll admit it was a little satisfying to read a story that satirized an experience I know well, and a reminder of why it's felt great to find roots back in my hometown.