MIT Architecture | Spring 2021 Lecture Series
In collaboration with the Building Technology Group
Christiana Moss, FAIA, NCARB presents the viewpoint and work of Studio Ma, an architecture firm focused on designing inspiring environments for all. Beginning with the concept of ma — understood in Japan as “the space between” – the firm’s approach explores the aspect (function) and the felt aspect (joy) of any space. In this way, ma is both a perspective and a dynamic relationship between object and environment. Attending to this relationship allows a balancing of the given approach, guiding the studio’s work toward the highest possible value for all. It opens doors to creating net-positivity in varied design contexts — optimizing aesthetics and functionality in harmony with the natural environment and human wellbeing. In short, joy within, function throughout.
Examples of the outcomes include higher education living and learning environments, such as student life and campus community making, as well as urban residential solutions, civic works, and research-based inquiry. The works uncover the attributes of the approach, including project leadership through partnership, advocacy through design, and sustainable solutions at a range of scales. From a graduate student community at Princeton University to an adapted student union in Tempe, and a net-zero ready workplace to an efficient museum in Phoenix, the solutions suggest direction in architecture at once forward-looking, ambitious and versatile.
Christiana Moss
Christiana Moss, FAIA, NCARB, is a founding principal of Studio Ma, an architecture and environmental design practice founded in Phoenix, AZ. Studio Ma’s work is focused on higher education living and learning environments with particular expertise in the areas of student life and campus community making. Their work at Arizona State University over the past 18 years has significantly contributed to the vibrancy of the student experience in projects such as ASU’s Memorial Student Union and Plaza, the Sun Devil Fitness Complex and Manzanita Hall. The architect for the Lakeside Graduate Student Community at Princeton University, Studio Ma is currently developing an undergraduate student life plan and residential college expansion for Washington University in St. Louis and recently completed a new mixed-use academic center for entrepreneurialism and innovation at Arizona State University. Studio Ma is the recipient of numerous awards including AIA and SCUP national design honor awards. They are ranked within the top ten Architect 50 Firms and have been honored as the 2016 AIA Arizona Firm of the Year and as a 2014 Architectural Record Design Vanguard firm.
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