Toshiko Mori is Principal of Toshiko Mori Architect based in New York, USA.

She is also the Robert P Hubbard Professor in the Practice of Architecture at the Graduate School of Design (GSD), Harvard University, and was Chair of the Department of Architecture from 2002 to 2008.

Toshiko Mori Architect was established in 1981 in New York City. The firm’s work includes urban, civic, institutional, cultural, residential, museum and exhibition design. Recent projects include theater, library, and museum projects in New York City; the Hudson Yard Park, Boulevard, and subway canopies; and a park visitor center in the Bronx.

She designed institutional projects for Brown University and Syracuse University, and is included on the design team for New York University’s strategic master plan. The firm was selected twice for the New York City’s Department of Design and Construction’s Design and Construction Excellence program, and won four competitions for the program’s public and urban infrastructure projects. Toshiko Mori Architect was recently selected as the architect of a laboratory building for Novartis’ extended Cambridge campus.

Toshiko Mori taught at the Cooper Union School of Architecture from 1983, until joining the Harvard GSD faculty with tenure in 1995. She has been a visiting faculty member at Columbia University and Yale University, where she was the Eero Saarinen Visiting Professor in 1992. She has taught courses on the tectonics of textiles, materials and fabrication methods in architecture, structural innovations, and the role of architects as agents of change in a global context. Her recent studio classes have partnered with international non-profits to develop community center and performing arts center prototypes.

Her strong research-based approach to design has been commended in invitations to lectures and conferences around the world. As a member and former-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Design, she has participated in sessions to discuss scarcity-driven design, the future of cities and urban information systems, design related to olfactory sensation and experience, and the role of the arts in improving communities. She has participated in international symposia and conferences, including panels held at the MoMA, Guggenheim Museum, and the G1 Summit in Japan.

Toshiko Mori established a think tank, VisionArc, in 1999 which connects local and global issues to mobilize design initiatives for a more sustainable future. She presented this research at the Singapore ICSID World Design Conference and the Bilbao Bizkaia B Award Design Festival. The research aims to locate new opportunities to embed design into higher channels and broader fields of practice.

She studied at Cooper Union School of Art (1970/71), obtained a Bachelor of Architect from the Cooper Union School of Architecture (1976), and obtained a Master of Architecture from Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD) in 1996.

She is a member of the master jury of the Aga Khan Prize for Architecture (2014-16). 

In 2003, Toshiko Mori was awarded the Cooper Union inaugural John Hejduk Award. In 2005, she received the Academy Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Medal of Honor from the AIA New York Chapter.

Toshiko Mori was head of the Holcim Awards jury for North America in 2014.