Marya Demetra Kanakis

Chicago, 1996.

Marya Demetra Kanakis (she/her) is a Greek-American architectural designer and writer.

Marya is founder of Ekphrasis Design Lab, an architecture and design strategy practice that explores nature, technology, and media. Her previous experience and collaborations include urban design research for SOM, landscape architecture and geological architecture for Kanye West, grounded by almost a decade of architectural experience in Chicago’s healthcare scene. She has been independently featured in the 2023 Chicago Architecture Biennial with her exhibition Bookscapes. Her work has also been exhibited in Technoscape. L’architettura dell’ingegneria at the MAXXI Museum, the Venice Architecture Biennale (SOM), Harvard University (OMA/GSD), and various independent spaces. Marya is a graduate of Harvard University Graduate School of Design (Master of Design Studies in Ecology, 2023, Cambridge, MA) and Illinois Institute of Technology (Bachelor of Architecture, Specialization in History and Theory, 2019, Chicago, IL). She was also a visiting student at Università Iuav di Venezia. She is currently an artist in residence at the International Museum of Surgical Sciences where she is continuing research on the history of medical campus architecture as a mechanism of "grafting."

Kanakis, Marya, Genetic Alchemy: Notes on “Grafted Natures: The Ecologies of Blurred Species,” edited by Ian Erickson and Tomi Seyi Laja, DISC Journal, vol. 3: Enchantment, 2024; Boom, Irma, Phillip Denny, Rem Koolhaas, and Harvard University Graduate School of Design, The Book in the Age of ..., Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard GSD, 2023; Kanakis, Marya, Grafted Natures: An Ecology of a Blurred Species, Harvard GSD Master of Design Studies: "Figures of Exodus," printed by author, 2023; Mimica, Vedran and Kanakis, Marya, interview by Alejandro Saldana-Perales, PROMETHEUS, vol. 5 (2021): Human Behavior, Performance, and Built Environments, 2021; Ortega, Lluis, Future Tempos: Conversations on Architecture Across Time and Media, ed. J. Cantu, I. Fitzpatrick-Meyers, M. Kanakis, M. Santos, A. Taskin, New York, Barcelona, ACTAR D, print, 2020

Artist in Residence, International Museum of Surgical Sciences, (forthcoming exhibition + publication design) 2025; Bookscapes Reading Room, Chicago Architecture Biennial, (exhibition, public programming, publication design) 2023; Book in the Age Of..., OMA/Harvard University Graduate School of Design, (exhibition + publication design) 2023; Salata Institute for Climate + Sustainability with Radcliffe Institute, (exhibition) 2022

Spanning architecture, publications, and exhibitions, my explorations often critique ecological urbanism as a coexistence between humans and machines, revealing new representations of nature through technology. Employing diverse media, including video, collage, and experimental formats that challenge conventional definitions of "the book" or "the building," for example. Fluid representation is central to my practice.