Priya Mu
Doctoral Student UTokyo

Hi, I’m Priya. Thanks for stopping by.

Throughout my 10+ years of experience in architecture training, I was self-developing a design philosophy rooted in the phenomenological, which inevitably led me to the question: "who are we designing for?" This led me to a second masters in social science, and eventually into the PhD I am currently working on, to understand how we build spaces and how those spaces end up building us back.

I position my work at the intersection of architecture, spatial sociology, and cultural anthropology, and I'm drawn to the everyday: the routines, the rituals, the small negotiations that happen in public, institutional, and communal spaces.

Right now, I'm doing PhD research in interdisciplinary information studies at the University of Tokyo, focusing on aging, embodiment, and public space. Through extended ethnographic fieldwork, I'm exploring how daily practices and material infrastructures shape, and are shaped by, the experience of growing older, and what it means to age with dignity in a society where welfare systems are being quietly but consequentially restructured.

My earlier years as an architectural designer in New Zealand, and later my regional revitalization work in rapidly aging villages in the Japanese countryside, gave me a deep understanding of aging communities, of navigating bureaucracy, and of thinking about what keeps a place alive. These experiences still shape how I see things.

I've also had the chance to work at the B'AI Global Forum for 3 years, engaging with AI ethics and governance, thinking seriously about what it would take for emerging technologies to be designed and imagined in ways that actually serve human dignity, justice, and collective well-being, rather than just efficiency.

Please use the navigation below to explore my portfolio, and feel free to connect on LinkedIn. I would love to hear from people with similar interests.