Biography

The Ontario College of Art and Design University ( - Liberal Studies

Architecture and Design Professor
Eric
Nay, M.Arch, PhD
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Dr. Eric Nay was trained as an architect and today works primarily in architectural history and theory, while teaching lecture and seminar courses in this subject area alongside environmental and industrial design studios at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

Eric has accumulated more than two decades of diverse international and interdisciplinary teaching, practice, administration and research experience. Eric is currently an Associate Professor at OCAD University in Toronto, Canada in the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Graduate Faculty. Eric previously served two terms at OCADU as an Associate Dean (2007-2014), as Grievance Chair (2017-2020) and has also held a number of provincial appointments (Council of Ontario Universities, Quality Council of Ontario, et. al.) while concurrently serving on numerous external boards of directors during his tenure at OCADU (Ontario Crafts Council, Humanities and Technology Association, et. al.).

Eric holds degrees from the University of Toronto (PhD), Cornell University (M.Arch), the University of Kentucky (B.Arch) and studied law at Hamline University in Minnesota (JD). Eric’s professional experience includes working in architecture practices in New York City, Chicago and California including SOM’s Chicago office on projects ranging from high end residential renovations in Manhattan to skyscrapers in Asia. He has published more than thirty articles, book reviews, journal blogs and one edited text while delivering more than two dozen academic papers at conferences in locations ranging from Syria to Svalbard.

Eric’s recent scholarly work is centered on critiquing modern architecture using contemporary methods in critical heritage studies, social justice and post-colonial theory. Foundational to his work is a comprehensive analysis of Le Corbusier's influence on architectural pedagogy and practice. Other ongoing work includes critiques of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, studies in emergent issues in architectural conservation and sustainable design and work in the evolving geopolitics of spatial sovereignty in the Arctic following climate change - all shaped by a lifelong respect for vernacular and indigenous architecture, design and making and makers of all types.