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Maya Bird-Murphy Body—
2 Hublot Design Prize
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Press
Archinect: Maya Bird-Murphy and the Chicago Mobile Makers deepen their roots in community change with the opening of their new headquarters 2022 Chicago Tribune: Theaster Gates’ Experimental Design Lab hopes to amplify emerging artists, designer’s work to develop a nexus of creative energy on the South Side 2022 Design Magazine: How Maya Bird-Murphy is Building Equity in Design Through Her Traveling Design Lab, Mobile Makers Chicago 2022 Magazine: Design 50 2022: The Fifty People Who Shape Chicago 2022 La Vie: Under 35 2022 Design Milk: Friday Five 2021 Dwell Magazine: This Designer Is Changing Architecture Education With a Solar-Powered Mobile Classroom 2020 “Chicago Mobile Makers, along with its tenacious leader Bird-Murphy, remind us how architecture can be used as a catalyst for change.”
Newcity
Featured
- Archinect
4 Hublot Design Prize RecognitionProfessionaland AwardsDorchester Industries Experimental Design Lab Theaster Gates, Prada Group, Rebuild Foundation – 2022 Graduate of the Last Decade Ball State University Alumni Association – 2021 Alan Madison: Leadership and Diversity AIA Illinois – 2020 Emerging Designer Boston Architectural College Alumni Association – 2018 Edwin T. Steffian Centennial Thesis Excellence Boston Architectural College – 2018
5 Hublot Design Prize
DesignDorchesterIndustriesExperimentalLabAwardeesinMilan
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8 Hublot Design Prize Formwork Youth Studio
All of the initial research and development for Chicago Mobile Makers was completed during my Master of Architecture thesis process at Boston Architectural College.
Six-month workshop series in partnership with Studio Gang Architects and Goldin Institute where students will design a large, 3D piece that will be fabricated and installed in a prominent location in their neighborhood Formwork Youth Studio
Frequent one-off pop-ups occurring in various neighborhoods around the Chicago Area which expose communities to STEAM education
Founded in 2017, Chicago Mobile Makers is nonprofit organization that offers design and problem-solving workshops in Chicago to encourage underrepresented youth to become advocates and change-makers in their own communities. Our mission is to engage and empower through creation and skill-building, to train and support future public interest architects, designers, and makers, and to advocate for equity and social, economic, gender, and racial diversity in the architecture and broader design fields. Chicago Mobile Makers makes design education accessible to children in Chicago’s most disinvested neighborhoods.
Current/Upcoming Programs:
Four-week exploration of architecture and design for youth in partnership with Perkins&Will and Leopardo Construction Chicago Mobile Makerspace Pop-Ups
9 Hublot Design Prize
Featured Project Chicago Mobile Makers
In 2019, only two years after being founded, Chicago Mobile Makers engaged with more than 670 youth by hosting 150 design workshops. Students learn that they have the power to make an immediate impact in their own communities, how to think and analyze at a systemic level, and they learn the power of collective action.
In fall of 2021, Chicago Mobile Makers’ permanent hub and makerspace will open to the public.
Youth Design Leadership for Community Safety Design-Build Program
MobileMakersIn-SchoolProgram
Because of overwhelming interest and support, Chicago Mobile Makers will begin “deploying” trucks and programming to other cities in 2022.
Featured Awards: NOMA-NAACP-SEED Award Recipient for Design Excellence in Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion 2020 Society of American Registered Architects Arts in the Community Award Recipient 2019 Fast Company World Changing Ideas Finalist 2018
The Chicago Mobile Makerspace is a retired United States Postal Service delivery van that has been converted into a classroom, tool shop, design studio, gallery, and community gathering space. It provides storage for power tools, hand tools, drawing and modeling materials, laptops, and larger machinery like a laser cutter and 3D printer. The Mobile Makerspace is able to power any tool needed through its boosted electrical system, which includes four solar panels on the roof. Although the Mobile Makerspace is small, the space feels roomy and comfortable. The interior features birch plywood custom cabinetry, a custom pegboard and message board, magnetic whiteboards, soft seating, large windows, and a desk. The color scheme is warm and inviting while complementing the main brand color.
12 Hublot Design Prize
The design of the Mobile Makerspace allows students to spill outside and activate unused space. Design, digital fabrication, and building workshops are able to be held anywhere - from an empty lot to a parking lot to a summer street festival. Youth will be able to design and build change in their own neighborhoods with their own hands.
The Chicago Mobile Makerspace
InterioroftheChicagoMobileMakerspace
InterioroftheChicagoMobileMakerspace
2021 Music Lives Here is a multi-media project by Chicago graphic art studio Sonnenzimmer and Maya Bird-Murphy of Chicago Mobile Makers. The project was commissioned by the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Music Lives Here pays tribute to the spaces, places, and people that have shaped Chicago’s music landscape, past and present, in the form of unique graphic sidewalk markers installed at 50 sites across Chicago. The project is further supported by this website, a small print guide distributed to Chicago Public Library branches, and pop-up performances throughout the year. Music Lives Here is part of the City of Chicago’s Year of Chicago Music initiative.
is a grant program from Instagram’s @design in collaboration with Brooklyn Museum. Three aspiring Black designers between the ages of 18 and 30 will be awarded grants of $10,000 each, and one $100,000 grant will be awarded to a small, Black-led design business. Chicago Mobile Makers helped guide this initiative as Instagram’s community consultant.
Shape Makers at the Arts Club of Chicago 2021
In this time of tentative gatherings, Chicago Mobile Makers designed configurable furniture for The Arts Club of Chicago garden. Employing modular, geometric forms in bright color, they transform the tranquil setting into a playful, interactive space. Each practical, movable shape is designed to be used independently or in combination with others to make individual seating, play-form, or bench. Throughout the coming months, the Arts Club will host outdoor sound and performance, as well as open hours for meditation or social gathering.
Mobile Makers is partnering with the Chicago Architectural Biennial in numerous ways this fall through in-person pop-up events, virtual workshops, and presentations.
CollaborationsFeatured
www.musicliveshere.site #BlackDesignVisionaries with Instagram’s @Design #BlackDesignVisionaries2021
16 Hublot Design Prize
Community Partner Events with the Chicago Architectural Biennial Chicago2021
Music Lives Here with Sonnenzimmer
17 Hublot Design Prize Music Lives Here Process
ShapeMakersattheArtsClubofChicago
NOMA
2021
Iowa
AIGA
AAO Design Matters Conference: Design Education Beyond Four Walls 2021 Bend Design Conference: Making Design Accessible, One Student at a Time NeoCon Panel Discussion: Empathy in Practice CSI Chicago Conference Keynote : Connecting Disparate Architectural Landscapes through Alternative and Inclusive Practice Diversity In Design Panel Discussion: The Time For Change Is Now 2020 NeoCon Panel Discussion: Empathy in Practice CSI Chicago Conference Keynote: Connecting Disparate Architectural Landscapes through Alternative and Inclusive Practice
IIDA
Featured EngagementsSpeaking
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2021
Design+DiversityFridayConference Denver
University
Other Recent Speaking Engagements: Future is Design Week National Conference School of the Art Institute of Chicago of Toronto Wisconsin Panel State University University of Tennessee
2021
2021 Bend Design Conference: Making Design Accessible, One Student at a Time NOMA National Conference: Engaging, Mentoring, and Supporting Black Women on their Path 2018
2021
20 Hublot Design Prize
21 Hublot Design Prize
of Work
Maya Bird-Murphy Body—
