Christiana Moss: Lessons from the Desert — Studio Ma

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A spacious, modern atrium with multiple levels featuring large windows that allow natural light to flood the space. The design incorporates natural elements, including vertical gardens with lush greenery and a cascading indoor waterfall along one wall. The central area includes an open seating space with wide steps, where people are gathered. The atrium has a combination of wood and concrete materials, giving it a warm yet industrial feel. There are various small plants and a few people sitting or walking,

Studio Ma, ASU Research Building. rendering / B&TB

Strauch Visiting Critic in Sustainable Design Lecture

Abstract

Phoenix-based architect and Strauch Visiting Critic in Sustainable Design Christiana Moss will explore four desert-inflected lenses through which she and her firm, Studio Ma, approach each project. From their earliest work on Phoenix's ancient canal system to a state-of-the-art New Embassy Compound for the US Department of State currently heading into construction in Praia, Cabo Verde, Studio Ma has continued to ask deceptively simple questions — Where is the water? Where is the sun in the sky? — to inform a rigorously-researched, impeccably ecological approach to architecture. In a time of profound climatological and technological change, Studio Ma is a leading voice for clarity, possibility, and optimism.

Biography

Christiana Moss FAIA is an ecologically focused, climate-driven architect working at the intersection of the natural and built environment from her beloved desert home of Phoenix, Arizona. Her firm, Studio Ma, was founded in 2003 with fellow Cornell alum Christopher Alt (B.Arch. '94) and has been nationally and internationally recognized for its sensitive, tech-adaptive, and regeneratively inspired approach to complex projects, including embassies, nearly-net-zero offices, and museums. Her uniquely innovative approach sees all architecture as fundamentally part of a larger ecological system, and her work frames sustainability through the lenses of water, heat, history, and human experience. Significant projects include a student life master plan for the University of California, Berkeley; a New Embassy Compound in Praia, Cabo Verde; a regenerative research facility for Arizona State University; Scottsdale's storied Museum of the West; and multiple campus projects around the United States. From her earliest projects working with Phoenix's four-thousand-year-old water canals to her most recent work, which uses state-of-the-art technology mixed with ancient architectural principles to reduce heat and increase environmental regeneration, Moss has sought to design the built environment to restore balance, equity, and joy to the world.

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