Samantha Milanzi is currently Malawi's most in-demand interior designer. Let's find out what's drawing clients to her bold interiors.
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00:01Colonial architecture and interior design is functional, robust and designed to last.
00:09However, cities on the African continent are developing with a dynamic all of their own.
00:14And to harness the transformative effect of interior design,
00:18this Malawian wants to break away from colonial designs.
00:22We're designing tomorrow today.
00:24So it's not just in the aesthetics, but designing tomorrow today by shaping the economy and businesses.
00:29So when you have a beautifully designed space, it amplifies your business.
00:35This is at Milanzi Group Head Office.
00:37We have the admin and the reception, which is on this space.
00:40And then just next to it, we have the whole team, which sits here currently.
00:44So this is our group office, which holds about six.
00:47We have the technical team, branding, design, as well as the media team.
00:52First impressions are crucial, which is why the interior design must be just right.
00:58This is how a brand can set itself apart from its competitors.
01:03But what are the trends in modern and non-colonial interior design?
01:07When it comes to commercial spaces, it's about amplifying the brand's identity
01:12and also motivating the staff that's working in the space by having a very well-designed space.
01:17So functionality is equal to productivity.
01:23For residential projects, it comes with the experience.
01:26So with social media now, TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, people are able to evolve and see from the traditional designs that they used to experience
01:33to now modern designs that they're able to see up close.
01:36So that also influences them and drives the modern interior design trends now.
01:43So when the clients come to us and give us the vision and also how they want to use the space.
01:48So us as interior designers, we collaborate with our clients to bringing their vision that they have, you know,
01:53and give it a heart and a soul and applying our technical expertise and then bringing it out.
01:5831-year-old Samantha Milanzi founded her interior design company in 2019.
02:04What prompted her to embark on a business that is so little appreciated in Malawi?
02:10And why has she dedicated herself to decolonizing interior design?
02:15I had a child at a young age. So the thing is, it was about the challenge of taking care of my son.
02:21At such a young age and I was working, so the salary wasn't enough.
02:25And I figured, you know, I need to have something else, like a side hustle.
02:28So interior design started as a side hustle and then I went for my studies later after when it started actually picking up.
02:37Colonial interior design is not for all the spaces.
02:40It can be for traditional buildings, government buildings to preserve, you know, the tradition and everything.
02:44But bringing it down is because times have changed. So we have to evolve.
02:49So people have to evolve the way they see spaces. It's just like how tech companies perform.
02:54So we had to change based on now the experiences that we want people to have.
02:59So this is Spark Systems building. It's called Spark Complex.
03:03We're here and this is the ground floor. We designed the technical development center.
03:08And over here, this is the part of their showroom, which they'll be showing the gadgets
03:13because they do ICT and we went for sort of like a futuristic theme.
03:17As you can see the shape and the lighting. So the blue is we tapped into the brand color.
03:22Interior design is still a relatively new field in Malawi.
03:26So far, the architects who planned the building also determined the interior design.
03:31How did Samantha and her all-female team manage to establish themselves as experts in the field?
03:38With social media, people are able to see what other people are doing, how people are shaping their homes and, you know, their workspaces just to enhance their experiences.
03:47And just looking at what kind of, you know, what that has now, the result when you enhance your space.
03:53So productivity, when it comes to homes, like, you know, the memories that you make, you cannot put a price to it.
03:59So people are actually leaning more towards interior design.
04:03And a lot of interior designers are actually showing that they are up for the challenge.
04:07So once the industry, you know, is, you know, exposed in that area and they have, you know, competition that actually can be able to execute projects, you gain trust.
04:18So this is about regionalization of interior architecture and a statement against authoritarian, possibly even patriarchal structures.
04:27Hmm. Has Samantha thus far fulfilled her client's brief?
04:31They've helped us create a space where everyone feels comfortable, everyone feels at home.
04:39And more importantly, it's a beautiful office.
04:42You know, there's no better feeling than walking into a very beautiful office where everyone gets inspired,
04:48whether it's through the artwork that they've put in or whether through the arrangement of the different setups, the chairs.
04:56And I think they've done an amazing job with us. And we're really happy. I'm a very happy client.
05:02We actually borrow from the colonial a lot. So the only difference is that we are applying the colonial design at minimalism.
05:10So now it's the same as using dark wood furniture and then changing the space to have high contrast colors.
05:17And, you know, those old wall moldings. So they are applied now like at a minimalistic level.
05:22As Malawi's newest and fastest growing city, the long way skyline offers plenty of scope for bold, visionary and hopefully non-colonial building and interior design.
05:35.