JA Architecture Studio
JA Architecture Studio is a Canadian practice based in Toronto and led by an Iranian Canadian duo, an architect and a landscape designer, that combines the rootedness of a local architecture firm with the broad interests of an international design studio. From small to medium sized buildings that confront detail-level building constraints to ambitious international competitions that draw upon the collective repertoire of the discipline, the trajectory of the practice is based on a method of simultaneously working at the opposing ends of the professional spectrum. Taken as a whole, the studio’s work invests in larger questions of the discipline--namely how iconographic, geometric, formal, and tectonic pursuits relate to broader contexts such as contemporary art, politics, construction, landscape, and urbanism.
By engaging in thoughtful design conversations ranging from the role of public art internationally with curators, to the wood joinery of a three legged chair with local furniture makers, and the virtues of re-naturalizing urban plots with neighbours, the studio aims to investigate the core of architecture by operating at numerous points around its periphery, connecting the themes and interests within the studio with those of the world at large. This approach was not chosen for its assurance of success but as a means for investigating the merit and relevance of JA’s ideas across a wide variety of scales and contexts.
JA’s work has been exhibited and recognized globally: OAA Headquarters, 2024; Turku Museum of History and the Future, 2024; Pachacamac Park, 2019; Kaunas M.K. Čiurlionis Concert Centre, 2017; Bauhaus Museum Dessau, 2015; Guggenheim Helsinki, 2014; Canadian Architect Award of Merit, 2021; Canadian Architect Award of Excellence, 2020, 2018, 2015; Finalist for the Canadian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, 2020, 2019; ARCHITECT Progressive Architecture Awards, 2023, 2022, 2021; The Architecture League of New York Emerging Voices, 2022; Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory, 2022; Architectural Record Design Vanguard, 2022.
Nima Javidi, Architect OAA, MArch, MUD, LEED AP
Nima is a registered architect in Toronto and founding principal and partner at JA. He is interested in the architectural intersections of geometry, structure, and typology, and his built work operates at the threshold of architecture and urbanism where geometric reconfiguration of building typology is triggered by the conditions of urban morphology.
Nima holds an MArch degree from the University of Tehran and an MUD from UofT Daniels. He is currently Assistant Professor Adjunct at the Cooper Union and Design Critic at the Harvard GSD. Nima held the 2021 Gwathmey Chair at the Cooper Union and has also taught at Cornell AAP and UofT Daniels.
Behnaz Assadi, MLA, BFA
Behnaz is a landscape architect and founding principal and partner at JA. She is interested in the unpredictability and open-endedness of landscape processes, large-scale interconnected ecological systems, and multi-scalar resilient design approaches that aim to mitigate the effect of climate change. Her work explores the agency of landscape architecture beyond disciplinary confines.
Behnaz holds an MLA degree from UofT Daniels and a BFA from the University of Tehran. She is currently Assistant Professor, Research Stream, at UofT Daniels and Assistant Professor Adjunct at the Cooper Union. Behnaz has also taught at Cornell AAP.
Team
Patricia Ku, Jia Chen Mi, Man Lam Cheng, Kyle O'Brien, Zhi Yuan (Scott) Zhu, Yu Di Lau, Hao An (ND) Yang, Larissa Ho, Reilly Walker, Qu Ping Li, Tian Yu Zhang, Shamim Khedri, Ece Ulusoy, Rosa Newman, Yu Hao Zhang, Liam Thornewell, Kaveh Taherizadeh, Dipra Shetty, Meghna Mudaliar, Zi Rong Liu, Raymond Garrioch, Avi Odenheimer, Jacquelyn (Bobbi) Bortolussi, Graham Oglend, Jia Xin Shi, Mariano Martellacci, Christine Song, Alireza Partovi, Moon Joo Lee, Nicholas Beloso, Thomas Mustel, Sarah Hunter, Joe Tang, Sally Kassar, Irina Rouby Apelbaum, Yang (Calvin) Yue, Phat Le, Arittro Noor.
We are always looking for architecture students who are competent in Rhinoceros, Adobe Suite and AutoCAD. Applicants should be motivated and tuned with the studio culture. Please review the website to see if your interest is aligned with what we do.
To apply, please e-mail your C.V. along with a few work samples to:
info@jastudioinc.com
Please note that given the large volume of applicants we receive, we would not be able to reply to all the e-mails we receive. However, should we decide to set up an interview we will contact you within two weeks of receiving the e-mail.
JA Office (top image): Riley Snelling
