Misha Bereznyak
Architect, Urban Designer, Co-Founder
B.Arch, MUDS, OAA, LEED ND
MISHA'S
FAVOURITES
Favourite city to wander:
Seoul and Lisbon
Fav place to have coffee:
Any nice patio or rooftop will do.
Fav park bench:
The yellow ones at St. Andrew’s.
Misha Bereznyak is a co-founder of Smart Density, an architect, and an urban designer. He brings a rare combination of technical and design skills and deep urban curiosity to the firm’s work.
Misha is driven by answering a simple but difficult question: “how can we bring back the qualities of older cities (and to some extent older buildings) but with today’s means, technology, and market?” – this has led him to write the book Building Charm.
Misha is a registered architect and urban designer with a B.Arch from the Technion, Israel’s Institute of Technology (2010), Master of Urban Design Studies from the University of Toronto (2014), and he is a LEED ND accredited. He co-founded Smart Density with the goal to consistently improve urban environments.
His work with Smart Density has been recognized with multiple awards, including four Ontario Association of Architects SHIFT Awards (2019, 2021, 2023, 2025), the OAA Best Emerging Practice Award (2022), the Ontario Professional Planners Institute PlanON Public Education Award (2024), the City of Toronto Urban Design Award (2025), and BILD Best Professional Service Firm Award (2026).
“Misha is charming and soft-spoken. He is also super intelligent and a brilliant architect.”
— Chris Spoke, Toronto Standard
“Misha is soft spoken, but don’t let that fool you. He is super intelligent and a great architect.”
— Theresa Gamble, Brookfield Properties
“Misha is technically gifted — there’s few people I’ve worked with that can see a plan and hear ideas and then put it together on the spot.”
— Scott Loudon, Leon’s Furniture Group
Misha Bereznyak is a co-founder of Smart Density, an architect, and an urban designer. He brings a rare combination of technical and design skills and deep urban curiosity to the firm’s work.
Misha is driven by answering a simple but difficult question: “how can we bring back the qualities of older cities (and to some extent older buildings) but with today’s means, technology, and market?” – this has led him to write the book Building Charm.
Misha is a registered architect and urban designer with a B.Arch from the Technion, Israel’s Institute of Technology (2010), Master of Urban Design Studies from the University of Toronto (2014), and he is a LEED ND (Neighbourhoods) accredited. He co-founded Smart Density with the goal to consistently improve urban environments.
His work with Smart Density has been recognized with multiple awards, including four Ontario Association of Architects SHIFT Awards (2019, 2021, 2023, 2025), the OAA Best Emerging Practice Award (2022), the Ontario Professional Planners Institute PlanON Public Education Award (2024), the City of Toronto Urban Design Award (2025), and BILD Best Professional Service Firm Award (2026).
“Misha is charming and soft-spoken. He is also super intelligent and a brilliant architect.”
— Chris Spoke, Toronto Standard
“Misha is soft spoken, but don’t let that fool you. He is super intelligent and a great architect.”
— Theresa Gamble, Brookfield Properties
“Misha is technically gifted — there’s few people I’ve worked with that can see a plan and hear ideas and then put it together on the spot.”
— Scott Loudon, Leon’s Furniture Group
MISHA'S
FAVOURITES
Favourite city to wander:
Seoul and Lisbon
Fav place to have coffee:
Any nice patio or rooftop will do.
Fav park bench:
The yellow ones at St. Andrew’s.