Critical Distance DIRECTORY Reza Nik

Reza Nik is an architect, artist and educator based in Toronto, Canada. He is the founding director of SHEEEP, an experimental architecture studio working through an equitable lens. Reza has a background in Art History and he is currently an Assistant Professor (Teaching Stream) at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design. His research is focused on a deeper dialogue between the socio-political nuances of the urban context and playful experimentation – as researched through his course Guided Distractions. Disrupting the traditional architectural processes and institutions is at the forefront of his pedagogy and practice.

Prior to founding SHEEEP, Reza worked with experimental practices like Coop Himmelb(l)au in Vienna & the Living Architecture Systems Group led by Philip Beesley in Toronto. He has also worked with various architectural studios since 2007 in Barcelona, Buenos Aires and Toronto including Diamond Schmitt Architects and StudioAC. Reza has also participated in various design-build projects led by Sergio Palleroni in India and Argentina. The social impact of Architecture is something he has been investigating for over a decade. He is also one of the founding members and the co-steward of the Toronto chapter of the Architecture Lobby, an organization advocating for labor rights for architectural workers and encouraging a more critical discourse within the profession.