Amanda Reis joins the MSoA teaching team

The McEwen School of Architecture is excited to announce that Amanda Reis will be joining our full-time faculty as an Assistant Professor in January 2026.

Amanda will be teaching 1st year Design Studio this Winter 2026 semester.

Amanda is a registered architect and a member of the Manitoba Association of Architects (MAA), the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), and the American Institute of Architects (AIA). She earned her Master of Architecture (M.Arch.) and Bachelor of Environmental Design (B.Env.D.) degrees at the University of Manitoba. Amanda has held positions as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture in the Golisano Institute of Sustainability at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, New York and as an Instructor in the Department of Interior Design and the Department of Architecture in the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Manitoba (U of M) in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Her teaching experience includes undergraduate and graduate courses on architectural design, sustainable construction, engineering systems integration, architectural practice, and architectural research such as thesis, independent studies, and special topics. Her three teaching philosophies are hands-on learning, interdisciplinary learning, and community-oriented learning. Her special topics electives have explored design solutions for food insecurity across indigenous northern communities and have fostered collaboration between students and faculty of the Faculty of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, and Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, and members of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation.

Amanda conducts scholarship of integration, application, and engagement. Her research experience includes residencies, projects, and exhibitions supported by grants and competitions. Her two research interests are social and environmental design and the intersection of art and architecture. Some branches of her research interests include rural and urban contexts; sustainable communities; housing and food security; sprawl repair, urban infill; resource conscious design; contemporary vernacular design; sustainable wood construction; analogue and digital fabrication; pre-fabrication; design-build; and community-oriented design. She has completed projects for the Main Street Project, Thunderbird House, Immigrant Integration, Farming Community Co-Op, Movimento dos Sem Teto do Centro, Winnipeg Design Festival, Winnipeg Warming Huts, and Bethel Woods Centre for the Arts.

Her professional experience includes architectural consultation and project management. She has worked on a variety of projects such as single-family homes, multi-family and mixed-use residential buildings, grocery stores, daycares, schools, and university buildings with classrooms, laboratories, and offices across Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. Her collaborative practice focuses on small-scale high-impact projects across Ontario, Manitoba, New York, and São Paulo, and integrates her teaching philosophies, research interests, and professional expertise.

You can find below a few images showcasing two of her recent design-build projects: the Peace Pavilion (New York, 2025) and OCA (Sao Paulo, 2025) – see details further below.

Welcome to the MSoA!

Project details:

PEACE PAVILION
1969 Woodstock Music Festival Historic Site – Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
Year: 2025
Location: New York, United States
Collaborators: AREA and RIT (Eduardo Aquino, Ralph Gutierrez, Noah Baldon, Maddy Bortle, Anna-Leigha Clarke, Ryan Denberg, Sydney Fox, Gabriela Hernandez, Gil Merod, Mackendra Nobes, Julia Resnick, Youngjin Yi, Michael Buffalin, Jim Heaney, and Chris Vorndran)
Sponsors: Bethel Woods Art and Architecture Festival: Build Fest 2 – Peace Rises, Think Wood, Softwood Lumber Board, Degraw and Dehaan Architects, Grimm Construction, and Rochester Institute of Technology
Photographer: Youngjin Yi

OCA
Ocupação 9 de Julho – Movimento dos Sem Teto do Centro (MSTC)
Year: 2025
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
Collaborators: AREA and ITA Engenharia (Eduardo Aquino, Ralph Gutierrez, João Vítor Pilati, Hélio Olga, Vinícius Barreto, Talles Carneiro, Rafael Nielsen, João Pini, Humberto Tufolo, José Rodrigues, Amadeus Rodrigues, Bruno Santos dos Anjos, Rinaldo Florentino, Sydney Júnior, Nathan Curá, Dona Irene e Bruno, Carmen Silva, Kellen Wini, Naná Lima, Thiago da Silva Lima, Marcell Eduardo Boareto, Hélder Almeida, Thiago Jucá, and Carolina Bonilha)
Sponsors: Canada Council for the Arts, University of Manitoba, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Escola da Cidade
Photographer: André Scarpa