MASS Design Group, the firm co-founded by Alan Ricks MArch ’10 and Michael Murphy MArch ’11, is the recipient of a 2018 American Academy of Arts and Letters Architecture Award. The $10,000 prize is awarded annually to American architects whose work is “characterized by a strong personal direction.” For MASS Design Group “architecture is inextricably united to social equity,” noted juror Tod Williams. The firm “challenges architectural preconceptions,” focusing on “how architecture might be used as a tool for healing,” he continues.

In addition to Ricks and Murphy, MASS Design Group is led by GSD alumnus David Saladik (MArch ’10), among others.

The firm will receive their award at the Academy’s annual Ceremonial in May. Work by the winners will be featured in the Ceremonial Exhibition: Work by New Members and Recipients of Awards in the Academy’s galleries on Audubon Terrace.

Image: Gheskio Cholera Treatment Center, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.