AMMA is a collaborative studio working across design, architecture, planning, and public art. Guided by the idea that some problems are solved by widening the frame, we seek opportunity at every scale and in every context. We act as systems artists for governments, institutions, nonprofits, and developers who believe spatial change is possible and urgent, and who aim for lasting, positive impact.

The built environment faces intertwined challenges: carbon emissions, climate impacts, social inequities, labor diminishment, housing shortages, and power structures that keep the public from the public realm. Spatial thinking alone will not fix them, yet none can be fixed without it. For nearly 20 years, Michael Murphy and his teams have used architecture as catalyst, partner, ally, and steward. AMMA advances that mission by rethinking not only buildings but also how we finance, build, and sustain them, forging new partnerships to meet larger challenges in a changing field.

Selected Case Studies

MASS MoCA: Housing for Artists

MASS MoCA, one of the largest contemporary art museums in the United States, has partnered with AMMA to reimagine the former Sullivan Elementary School, an abandoned 52,000-square-foot midcentury building of precast concrete with panoramic views of the Hoosic River Valley, as a vibrant community of apartments and studios for artists and creative professionals. The project will include rehearsal, studio, and gathering spaces, along with more than 40 affordable housing units that prioritize long-term flexibility, creating pathways to ownership and reinvestment in a neighborhood primed for reimagination.

Project InfoYear: 2025
Location: North Adams, Massachusetts
Archetype: Housing

ClientMASS MoCA

Image CreditsRich Fridy / AMMA