MASS Design Leads by Example

I received an email message signed by architect Michael Murphy, founder of MASS Design Group, a practice in Boston. When Michael taught a workshop at IE School of Architecture and Design in 2017, I was impressed both by his engagement with students and by the pragmatic and thoughtful approach to structuring a firm to be able to realize social goals as well as private ones. Today upon receiving a letter from him, I am again heartened by the example set by the firm, using architecture and design in a realistic and generous way to make a difference.

Here is part of his letter: "I’ve been reflecting on the role architecture can play to help the fight. Not by design, but by circumstance, our practice began in response to another epidemic: extensively drug resistant tuberculosis, whose airborne transmission was exacerbated by the spatial conditions of hospital wards and waiting areas. Over the last decade, we have partnered with organizations on the frontlines of the world’s major health challenges—from responding to acute epidemics of Ebola in Liberia and cholera in Haiti, to addressing the chronic injustices of structural health inequities in the US and Rwanda. This work could not feel more pressing than it does now. ... Here’s what we’re doing now:

COVID-19 Design Response: Partner Support. We are working with organizations leading the response to the COVID-19 outbreak. One early partner is the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP), an organization at the forefront of the outbreak, rapidly organizing to protect Boston’s vulnerable homeless population. Critical to their response was the construction of two pop-up clinics for COVID-19 testing and treatment. Last week, MASS provided design support for these clinics, creating plans in partnership with BHCHP and experts from Boston Medical Center. The two tents opened last week, one for quarantined patients that have potentially been exposed to the virus, and another for patients exhibiting symptoms and awaiting testing. Chris Scovel, a design director at MASS, introduced a critical ventilation strategy into the heating and HVAC design that will significantly reduce risk for patients and treatment staff.  

COVID-19 Design Response: Guides and Tools. We are developing a series of guides, available to all, that will include tips for homeowners, builders, and designers on how to retrofit spaces for airborne infection control, including strategies for emergency shelters. The guides draw upon lessons learned from our experience designing in response to epidemic outbreaks and will be updated and available on our website, as needs are identified and new findings about coronavirus emerge. Our first resource, Designing Spaces for Infection Control, can be downloaded here.

Architecture has been relegated as a passive backdrop to our isolation, but if deployed as an active agent in the fight against the pandemic, we might recapture agency over our physical environment. Now more than ever, architects’ vigilance and partnership is key in designing a path forward. Our present day situation marks a critical moment that will surely change the way spaces are designed and built going forward. 

So I ask all of you: How are you and your network responding to the coronavirus pandemic, and how can we, as designers, be of service to you during this time?"

 With strength and care, Michael Murphy, Founding Principal and Executive Director