Jay Pooley is a Toronto-based architect, art director and journeyman carpenter. His work demonstrates expertise in the design and rapid realization of technically complex set constructions, installations and special effects for film production on a global scale. Recent work includes projects with Lucasfilm, Industrial Light & Magic, OVO Sound, Nike Jordan, Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Holt Renfrew, directors Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace, Monster’s Ball) and Garth Davis (Lion), Google AI, and the author/artist Douglas Coupland. 

Pooley’s work has collected prestigious awards from every corner of the globe including a record-setting eight Lions at the Cannes Film Festival for his design of the SickKids VS campaigns and the Canadian Olympic Committee. 

Current research projects include design/build studio projects as a way of creating equitable access to mental health resources and community support systems. Film studies centered around innovative formats for capturing the experience of architecture. Pooley is the co-creator of the Daniels Radio Podcast, a new platform with the goal to not speak for the school, but to allow the school to speak. 

Educated in Halifax, Los Angeles and New York City, Pooley’s mentors include Brian MacKay-Lyons, Barton Myers, Tod Williams and Billie Tsien. He completed both a Bachelor of Environmental Design Studies and a Master of Architecture at Dalhousie University, where he received the William P. Lydon Memorial Scholarship for design, the Colin Gash Memorial Scholarship for contribution to community life, and the Governor’s Medal.

Pooley is currently an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream at the University of Toronto, where he coordinates the first-year undergraduate design studios How to Design Almost Anything, a collaborative design studio with the Faculty of Applied Science: Design + Engineering I, and the fourth-year Design-Build Research Opportunity Program.