Maya Desai

Maya Mahgoub Desai works at the intersection of environmental design and health equity. She is Chair of Environmental Design at OCAD University and a Visiting Professor at the University of Toronto, where her work seeks to advance how built environments can support human and non-human health by examining the relationships between design, social and cultural systems, and health outcomes—with particular focus on disability inclusion and climate resilience as integral to healthy communities.

Her interdisciplinary work has been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Canada’s Sustainable Development Goals Funding Program, and the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation Spark Program. Her early scholarship on environmental futures and emerging technologies received the Architectural Research Centres Consortium King Medal and was shortlisted for the Prix de Rome.

Alongside academia, Maya is a Senior Urban Designer and Planner at Moriyama Teshima Architects, leading campus, community, and municipal planning and design work across Canada and the Middle East. She brings a community-centred, climate-responsive approach to projects that prioritize social inclusion and meaningful engagement, with master planning and advisory experience for Waterfront Toronto, Qatar’s Education City, the Surrey City Development Corporation, the Town of Whitby, and post-secondary institutions including the University of Lethbridge, Wilfrid Laurier University, and Conestoga College.

Maya also contributes to professional and advocacy communities as an elected member of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Promoting Equity and Justice Committee, a patient advocate and research partner with University Health Network, and an executive member of Building Equality in Architecture Toronto, recipient of the 2024 Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Advocate for Architecture Award.

In her spare time, she is a curious traveler and photographer, finding joy in music and dance—and in observing the rhythm, gesture, and quiet choreography of everyday life in cities, spaces, and the natural world.