Toshiko Mori: Dialogue in Architecture

Toshiko Mori is the Robert P. Hubbard Professor in the Practice of Architecture at Harvard GSD, and the principal of Toshiko Mori Architect, PLLC. She is the founder of VisionArc, a think-tank promoting global dialogue for a sustainable future, and one of the founders of Paracoustica, a non-profit that promotes music in underserved communities. She received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cooper Union and an Honorable Master of Architecture degree from Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

The aim of Mori’s practice is to improve the quality of everyday life. By focusing on increasing possibilities for social encounter and cohesion, her firm creates unique experiences. She works with blurred borders and boundaries to merge and connect different communities to form spatial overlaps. Mori incorporates the unique context of each project to embrace local scene, culture, materials, and soul. She is particularly sensitive to the impact of daylight, as it shifts through the time of day and the changing of seasons, connecting inhabitants with natural rhythms. Within architecture is the possibility to restore the individual and collective experience of moments of inspiration. Mori’s recent work includes: Master Plans for the Brooklyn Public Library Central Branch and Buffalo Botanical Gardens; Thread, a Cultural Center and Artists’ Residences, in rural Senegal; and new canopies for the #7 Subway line for the Hudson Park and Boulevard in New York City.

Mori’s projects have been internationally exhibited, including expositions at the 2012 and 2014 Venice Architecture Biennales, and Louisiana Museum in Copenhagen, in 2015. Architectural Digest listed her amongst their biennial AD100 in 2014 and 2016 (the distinction will be annual by December 2017).

Mori regularly contributes to international publications, such as Japan Architect and A+U. Her work has also been published in numerous books and monographs, including; “Immaterial/Ultramaterial” by George Braziller, “Toshiko Mori Architect” by Monacelli Press, and “Cloudline” by Hatje Cantz Verlag.

Furthermore, Mori has been honored with: numerous AIA NY Awards; the Academy Award in Architecture, from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter Medal of Honor; and the 2016 Tau Sigma Delta National Honor Society Gold Medal. In 2016 Mori was inducted as a member into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Thread: Artists’ Residency and Cultural Center in Senegal won the Plan 2016 award in Culture, was a finalist for the Aga Khan 2014-2016 award, and won the Architizer 2016 A+ awards for Architecture + Community and Architecture+ Humanitarianism. The center was also recently awarded the American Institute of Architect’s 2017 Institute Honor Award. TMA’s Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, designed alongside Maya Lin Studio in association with Bialosky + Partners and with Cannon Design as Architect of Record, was awarded ENR New England’s Higher Education/Research Best Project. Additionally, it was awarded Special Recognition for Innovative Systems from R&D Magazine for their Laboratory Design 2017 Laboratory of the Year awards.