Interior Design April 2022 – 90th Anniversary

Page 166

MAYA BIRD-MURPHY

“The conversation is changing so building equitably with community engagement is factoring into the process.”

Clockwise from top center: The mural at Mobile Makers Chicago’s stationary headquarters is by Emmy Star Brown. A pop-up workshop on Chicago’s South Side introduces kids to design. The MMC truck’s graphics are by Jacob Goble. Interior birch-plywood cabinetry is custom.

Architect, educator, maker, community advocate, activist: Maya Bird-Murphy is all that. In other words, the 29-year-old futurist walks the walk so many talk about as design’s vital issues. With Mobile Makers Chicago and her UPS truck repurposed as a traveling lab, she ventures into the city’s primarily underserved communities proffering workshops sponsored by local schools or organizations that introduce kids age 8 to 18 to design thinking, programming, and construction for hypothetical and real projects. “I’m excited mostly about two things,” Bird-Murphy says. Come summer the fleet expands with another truck in Boston, donated by Interior Design Hall of Fame member and Studio O+A cofounder Verda Alexander. Back home, thanks to a grant from Chicago Bulls Charities, she has stationary space: 2,000 square feet in Humboldt Park’s Kimball Arts Center. Speaking of parks, a West Side venue is about to receive a concrete sculpture designed by kids through a collaboration between MMC, Studio Gang, and Goldin Institute. “The conversation is changing so building equitably with community engagement is factoring into the process,” Bird-Murphy notes. Five years into the future? “I’ll be watching young people who grew up through our program and see if they end up in architecture or design programs.” Call if proof of concept. —Edie Cohen

f u t u r e ofdesign

164

INTERIOR DESIGN

APRIL.22

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP CENTER: COURTESY OF MOBILE MAKERS CHICAGO (2); TOM HARRIS; NOLIS (2)

rare bird


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INTERVENTION

1min
pages 257-260

CONTACTS

0
pages 254-256

FLYING HIGH

7min
pages 242-251

BOOKS

4min
pages 252-253

THE NEXT WAVE

7min
pages 234-241

BACK TO THE FUTURE

4min
pages 222-233

HORSE SENSE

7min
pages 212-221

PLAYING THE ANGLES

7min
pages 202-211

COMING AROUND

8min
pages 192-201

RARE BIRD

2min
pages 166-169

FROM THE GROUND UP

1min
pages 172-175

SUN WORSHIP

1min
pages 164-165

X FACTORS

2min
pages 170-171

MATERIAL UNIVERSE

1min
pages 162-163

PULP FACT

2min
pages 156-161

PARTITION PLAY

1min
pages 154-155

SHIFT WORK

1min
pages 144-145

OUT OF THIS WORLD

1min
pages 148-149

UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

1min
pages 150-153

AHEAD OF THE CURVE

1min
pages 146-147

ON THE OBLIQUE

4min
pages 141-143

See who else is celebrating a major anniversary in 2022

11min
pages 37-56

WALTER GROPIUS

3min
pages 89-94

KATE MILLETT

3min
pages 81-88

CINI BOERI

3min
pages 67-72

HEADLINERS

2min
pages 29-36

ALGONQUIN HOTEL

3min
pages 95-102

HERBERT BAYER

3min
pages 73-80

LUDWIG MIES

3min
pages 59-66
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