Anya Moryoussef Wants to Change the Way You Live

Architect in the house.

Writer Lauren Edwards

Anya Moryoussef’s work stands out from the crowd. The Toronto-based architect has been leading Anya Moryoussef Architect since only 2016, but she has already received numerous accolades, including two Royal Architectural Institute of Canada medals.

Moryoussef’s projects begin with a process of discovery. Like an archaeological exploration, a new build starts with digging into the client’s spatial identity. Moryoussef says we all carry emotions of how we feel in certain spaces, so AMA’s planning process includes seeing the world through the client’s perspective, drawing from joyful childhood memories, and letting go of assumptions about how one should live.

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A recent example of her approach is Craven Road Micro House, a renovation project that transformed a dark, drafty, 720-square-foot home into an open, contemporary one with an abundance of light. The house was “put to the test,” Moryoussef explains, when the client, a single person, felt that the house was somewhere she could grow old in. “Reinventing your home is an opportunity to fundamentally change the way you live—improve your quality of life,” Moryoussef says.