Johanna Hurme
Design Critic in Architecture
Visiting Faculty
Gund 329
Johanna Hurme, BED MArch FRAIC NCARB AIBC AAA SAA MAA OAA NSAA LEED AP
Johanna is an architect, co-founder and managing partner of 5468796 Architecture [546], a twenty five person practice in Winnipeg, Canada. Originally from Helsinki, Finland, Johanna received her architectural education at the Aalto University in Helsinki and at the University of Manitoba [Bachelor of Environmental Design 1999, Master of Architecture 2002] after emigrating to Canada. She co-founded 5468796 Architecture with Sasa Radulovic in 2007. With its beginnings in student design competitions, their design partnership spans nearly three decades, resulting in some of the firm’s most seminal projects. Influenced by Nordic sensibilities, Johanna’s approach emphasizes clarity and restraint, reducing projects to their essence and always seeking for the “just enough.” She has also shaped the firm’s ethos, broadening architectural practice to intersect with politics, economics, social activism, cultural research, and pragmatic engagement.
For nearly two decades 5468796 Architecture has focused on housing in all its forms and ownership models, urban design, walkable communities and the public domain. The firm’s work has been awarded with numerous recognitions nationally and internationally, and published in over 350 books and publications. The firm recognitions include 2025 the RAIC Architectural Practice Award, “50 Best Architectural Firms in 2020” by Domus, Rice Design Alliance Spotlight Award, WAN 21 for 21, Architectural
League of NY Emerging Voices, and the Design Vanguard issue of Architectural Record. 546 is also a three-time MCHAP finalist, Future Project of the Year winner at the World Architecture Festival and a four-time recipient of Governor General’s Medal in Architecture – the highest honour bestowed on built work in Canada. In 2012, 5468796 represented Canada at the Venice Biennale in Architecture, and in 2013 they were selected as the recipient of the Prix de Rome Award in Architecture for Canada by the Canada Council for the Arts. In 2017 Johanna was named a Fellow of Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and a finalist of the international Moira Gemmill Prize for Emerging Architecture, part of the W Awards by The Architectural Review, recognizing women and non-binary designers under 45 leading their own practices.
With a keen interest in housing and design culture, Johanna is an activist and an advocate, having initiated and co-created number of design related events and programs, including Table for 12 + 1200, Chair Your Idea, Design Quarter Winnipeg, and Walk-Winnipeg. She is the current President of RAIC I Architecture Canada, Board Member of IdeaStart at the University of Manitoba, a past member of the International Council of the New-York based Van Alen Institute and past Chair of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce. Johanna has taught design at universities across Canada, including University of Manitoba, Toronto, Calgary and Montréal. In 2019 she was named visiting Professor-Morgenstern Chair at the College of Architecture, IIT, Chicago, and in 2022, the Gensler Visiting Critic at Cornell University AAP. Johanna lectures extensively and is co-author of ‘Innovative Solutions for Creating Sustainable Cities’ (2018), and ‘platform:MIDDLE, Architecture for Housing the 99%’, published in Dec of 2023.