Ayako Maruyama

Ayako Maruyama is an Assistant Professor of Industrial Design at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), teaching foundational and advanced studios. She holds a BFA from RISD and an MCP in City Planning from Boston University. Her work focuses on collaboration, social justice, and urban recovery, with notable projects like the Go Boston 2030 Visioning Lab and the reharvest repair circular economy initiative funded by the Somerson Sustainability Innovation Fund (2024).

Education:

• BFA, Rhode Island School of Design
• MCP, Boston University

Research interests emphasize collective recovery, maintenance, and repair through design. She co-authored Ideas Arrangements Effects (2024), exploring systems design for social justice, and exhibited work at Cooper Hewitt and Project Row Houses. As a board member of University of Orange, she advocates restoration urbanism.

Awards:

• 2024 John R. Frazier Award for Excellence in Teaching

Grants and Projects:

• 2024 Somerson Sustainability Innovation Fund Grant (reharvest repair)
• Leadership in DS4SI’s public engagement strategies

Labs/Teams: Co-leads reharvest repair, a circular economy project documenting material flows and community resource reimagination.