Architecture that’s Built to Heal by Michael Murphy – MASS Design Group

During his dialogue, Michael Murphy, who is the co-founder of MASS Design Group, discusses the versatile role of architecture in encouraging both physical and mental healing. He details how MASS intensely studied various factors during the development and construction of unique buildings like Rwanda’s Butaro Hospital, intended to enhance patient recovery, and Haiti’s Gheskio Treatment Centre, whose main goal is the prevention and treatment of cholera. The discussion additionally highlights structures like the Maternity Waiting Village in Malawi, aimed at reducing the death rate of premature infants, the Ilima Conservation School in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) committed to the protection of endangered species, and the Centre for Deaf and Culture in Washington D.C., dedicated to enhancing communication techniques for humans. Murphy’s dialogue ultimately finishes with a thoughtful analysis of the symbolic significance of the Memorial to Peace and Injustice in Montgomery, created to courageously confront the issue of racial prejudice in America, a problem that until now has mostly been ignored.