AMMA

After several years working behind the scenes, I’m excited to share the launch of AMMA, a new collaborative design and development studio. For nearly 20 years, I have been fascinated by how we shape space, and how spaces shape us. That research began with a focus on infectious air in medical buildings and disease transfer in water systems, and then transitioned to memorials and their capacity to change narrative and shift culture. Lately, I’ve been thinking more about the flywheel of that shift and how to finance and share the ownership of the world around us— a design problem that architecture has yet to solve. That is why we started AMMA— we want to rethink not only the design of buildings, but also how we finance, build, and sustain them; forging novel collaborations to meet the larger challenges of a changing field. Over the last two years, we have acted more as systems artists than architects, working for governments, institutions, nonprofits, and developers who believe spatial change is possible and urgent. I look forward to sharing more about the projects we’ve been working on. @Forbes wrote about our new practice this week, which you can read about at the link in our bio. You can also find more about the work and practice at our new home, ammaprojects.com

1 Day. 9 Sessions. 23+ Voices. Our World in Design: Immortal Spaces convenes architects, artists, thinkers, scientists, musicians, policymakers, and curious advocates to converse about the spaces that make us human, the legacies we leave behind, and the future we want to build. Join us on April 16th at the High Museum as we explore spatial politics, authorship, mortality—and why architecture remains at the center of it all. Tickets are live on the High Museum’s website. Click the link in our bio to purchase!

We are excited to announce the completion of the Oceana Innovation Hub in Bridgetown, Barbados. As the first learning hub of its kind, Oceana blends cutting-edge, climate-resilient architecture with innovative learning models pioneered by XQ (@xqamerica ) with the Barbados Ministry of Education Transformation (@medtbarbados ) and Prime Minister Mia Mottley (@mamottley ) A new landmark on the shores of Carlisle Bay, the Oceana Innovation Hub is the first project in a broad vision for the nation to be proactive in its fight against climate threats. The hub serves as an oceanfront destination where students from across the island gather for workshops, research, and recreation on climate risks and resilience. Rooted in a prefabricated, mass timber module constructed in partnership with WoHo Systems (@wohosystems ). The pyramidal form helps mitigate hurricane force winds while offering a model for a multiplicity of future configurations. The project is also a pilot of rapid deployment, being designed and built in less than one year. The school was envisioned to offer a method of reconstruction after extreme weather events and translate climate-responsive design into a model for national and international replication. Client: XQ Operated by: Barbados Ministry of Educational Transformation This speed and execution would not have been possible without the work of tireless team of designers and builders managed by OJT (@officejt_ ), Joseph Steinbok Management and Moorjani Caribbean, along with a fantastic multidisciplinary team of designers, educators, engineers, and local partners and collaborators: @animalnamedesign , Archis, Bain, Baird, @bcqs_international , @cterrilledu , @dla.design , @ehdd_architecture , EMC, @haighcommbb , @jmad_studio , Kevin Lewis, Mahy Ridley Hazzard, @marlondarbeau , @nousla , RDL, Rupert Piggot, @rjmcleandesigns , @sandylaynedesigns , @sasakidesign , @marikaclark , @_.studioamor._ , @tap.studio , @transsolar_klimaengineering , @xqamerica , Yes Praxes Photos 1,2,3,5 © Iwan Baan (@iwanbaan ) Photo 4 @richfridy For more information about this project, please click the link in our bio or visit ammaprojects.com

OUT NOW!! I am deeply grateful to announce the official release of my new book — Our World in Ten Buildings: How Architecture Defines Who We Are and How We Live. The book walks through a personal journey of many built spaces from the house to the memorial to the hospital and more. Told in part through my personal stories and interventions made on the built world throughout my career but also as a part historical narrative of how regular spaces have shaped ourselves and our society. Part memoir, part field guide, part architectural primer, my hope with this book is to present architecture through the stories that create it, and in so doing cultivate a necessary conversation about how the spaces we shape, in turn, shape us, not only in how we live, but in how we are allowed to let go. I hope to hear from you, and if you’d like to order the book, you can do so through the link in my bio. We will be doing a fun giveaway for those of you who would like to show your support by buying multiples of 5, 10, 30, or 50+ books — Check out our website (link in bio) for more info!

OUT TODAY! Our World in Ten Buildings is officially available wherever you purchase books! Pick up a copy or two for you and your friends. Grateful for everyone who has joined me on this journey so far, and thanks to @aiww and @tceb62 for these incredibly generous and kind words.

OUT TOMORROW! — Our World in Ten Buildings: How Architecture Defines Who We Are and How We Live, by Michael P. Murphy ——— Thanks to everyone who has shared such wonderful thoughts and reviews of the book, including these, from two of my idols @wrightthompsonbooks and @susanmagsamen whose amazing books inspired me as I wrote my own.

“We are our ancestors’ wildest dreams,” I am still thinking about this quote from Brandon “BMIKE” Odums on Thursday during the first Our World in Design Symposium on Immortal Spaces. We listened, questioned, and reflected on what it means to shape the world ahead. As Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in 1963 in his Letters from a Birmingham Jail, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.” The were many times during the day where we experienced a rare “Thou” moment like he speaks about. The recognition of others not as objects (“It”) but as sacred, relational beings (“Thou”), bound together in dignity and responsibility. A quiet reminder that none of this is done alone. In this spirit, Hank Willis Thomas rephrased BMIKE’s call to awareness into a call to action, “what if we are our descendants’ wildest dreams?” It takes a village to make something like this happen. I am grateful to everyone who spoke, shared, and listened. Your voices made the day what it was. Thank you immensely to Graham Veysey and his team at Northwater Productions for making it all run so seamlessly. We could not have done it without the amazing team at AMMA, the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Architecture, Perkins&Will, Eames Institute, The Hearthland Foundation, Shaw Contract, and TVS, and to the High Museum of Art for hosting and holding a space for these inspiring conversations. With my deepest gratitude, Thank You.

NEW BOOK ! Our World in Ten Buildings: How Architecture Defines Who We Are and How We Live. This book traces ten familiar building types through moments that have defined my life and work, from my childhood home to the school where I began studying architecture, to building hospitals in Rwanda alongside Dr. Paul Farmer, and more recently, projects taking shape along the beaches of Barbados with AMMA. It considers how the spaces around us quietly influence our behavior, our values, and the way we imagine the future. I’m deeply grateful to the people who made this journey possible, and for the conversations it has already begun. I hope it sparks new ones in your own communities. Preorder now on Amazon and Simon & Schuster, link in bio.

On April 25 at 12 PM in Los Angeles, I’ll join Hamza Walker, Director of The Brick and curator of MONUMENTS, for a conversation about how memorial design can shape collective memory, transform culture, and generate lasting impact for the communities that create and sustain it. Presented in conjunction with MONUMENTS, co-organized by The Brick and The Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles. The Brick, 518 N. Western Avenue Saturday, April 25, 2026 12:00 PM This event is free and open to the public. More information at ammaprojects.com — link in bio.

This month, please plan to join us for a series of book talks, book signings, lectures and conversations with wonderful thought leaders, celebrating the release of my new book, Our World in Ten Buildings: How Architecture Defines Who We Are and How We Live, out April 21! I can’t wait to see you all there and to share years of work exploring how architecture shapes human behavior, connection, and daily life through the lens of ten buildings that have shaped my own life and work. Additional dates and cities in May, June and beyond will be coming soon — Stay tuned, and save the dates below! I have a link to our @amma.projects website in my bio where I have all the dates listed. Please reach out if you’d like to join!

Atlanta friends— join us on April 15th for a book talk, signing, and reception hosted by @acappellabooks at the Marianna Room at @wreckingbarbrewpub in Little 5 Points to celebrate the release of Our World in Ten Buildings: How Architecture Defines Who We Are and How We Live. — @michaelpmurphyjr will be in conversation with Atlanta developer and preservationist @gene_kansas and Georgia Tech College of Design Dean Ellen Bassett. The event is free and open to the public; copies of the book will be available for purchase.

I’m thrilled to announce that my book, Our World in Ten Buildings, is now available for pre-order from major online retailers. This book has been in the works for a number of years and it was a labor of love to get it done. My hope with this book is to create an accessible story for everyone, about why architecture matters to our families, our communities, and ourselves. I’ve told it through personal stories and deep dives into specific categories of buildings. When I’ve talked about the book, so many people have shared their stories about when a building changed their life or way of seeing things, and that is exactly what I hope this book achieves. A conversation to see the structures around us for what they are: agents in our ability to live, to survive and to dream. The book will be available everywhere April 21st, but pre-sales matter greatly, so please consider buying one for you and your friends! And, if you buy one presale, I’ll be sure to inscribe it at one of many book talks and events we’re planning over the next few months in LA, Boston, DC, New York, Atlanta, Cincinnati, and others (more to come on this front). Pre-order now at the link in my bio!