Somayeh Mousazadeh, OAA, MRAIC

Somayeh is a design principal based in Toronto and the global design lead for the education, science and community architecture practice with fifteen years of experience working on complex urban and institutional projects across North America. Her designs combine intuition with rationality and a deep sense of responsibility, resulting in architecture that is both creative and purposeful. She draws on an optimistic framework where nature, humans and economy can equally thrive — where efficiency and quality coexist.

“It takes ideas and a great deal of care — not necessarily budget — to make good architecture.”

As a lifelong learner, Somayeh dedicates time to design research at the intersection of architecture, culture, science and technology. Most recently, she completed a fellowship studying how the integration of artificial intelligence and new technologies in science, along with the shift toward transdisciplinary research, impacts the design of future laboratories. She has published and presented her work at venues including the Environmental Design Research Association, the International Symposium on Architecture of the 21st Century and the International Conference of Open Building.

Somayeh’s portfolio includes Kansas University Medical Research Building, Science Collaboration Center at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, Queen’s University John Deutsch Student Center, York University Neuroscience Laboratory and Research Building, and Brescia University Academic Pavilion. Her experience spans various project delivery methods, structural systems including mass timber, and science-intensive typologies.