MASSive impact

When thinking about critical regionalism, user centered design, and informal architecture that we have been discussing over the last several weeks the firm that comes to my mind is MASS Design Group. Their architecture aims to integrate the history of the region they are building in to the narrative and design of the building. Their design goal is to heal and create political and environmental change with their projects. They incorporate and work with local governments and people throughout every design phase. They also use the regional materials to create their buildings and incorporate the local communities occupations and specialities to help spur the local economy, integrate the users into the design, and insure the cultural specifics and desires of the community is not lost. This aligns with concepts of critical regionalism as their work is rooted in a particular culture while also incorporating modern design principles and technologies.