MASS Design Group

In a conversation on Architectural Record’s DESIGN:ED podcast, Alan Ricks and Sierra Bainbridge share MASS’s approach to practice—one rooted in listening first, designing with community, and committing to outcomes you measure in decades.

From rethinking healthcare delivery alongside Partners in Health () in the world’s most resource-constrained communities to building the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund (), they unpack what it takes to let go of preconceived ideas; build local supply chains and economies; integrate landscape and architecture as one interconnected system; and use design to restore biodiversity, reduce carbon, and strengthen communities. The work provides hope and proof that we can create meaningful change faster than we created the problems.

Alan and Sierra share more on how more action, partnership and collaboration and less critique and competition is a means to beat worsening climate impacts and policies that will further hurt humans, agriculture and animals in a world already challenged with food insecurity. Influences of New York’s Highline, Toshiko Mori, SCAPE Landscape Architects (), Grace Farms (), “Father of the Natural World” Ian McHarg, and Bernie Krause are discussed.

If you’re feeling stuck between what’s possible and impact, this will help shift your perspective. 🎧 Listen to the episode + explore MASS’s new book, Seeking Abundance.

Photo 1: Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund
Photo 2: Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture
Photo 3: Ilima Primary School