Johns Hopkins University International Arts + Mind Lab Names Michael P. Murphy Its First Architect-in-Residence

Baltimore, MD, Tuesday, September 15, 2026—The International Arts + Mind Lab (IAM Lab) Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) School of Medicine is pleased to announce the appointment of Michael P. Murphy as its inaugural Architect-in-Residence Visiting Scholar. This new residency represents a rare and timely opportunity for the IAM Lab to convene leading voices from around the world at the intersection of architecture, neuroscience, medicine, the arts, and technology via the IAM Lab’s Intentional Spaces Initiative, whose work is supported by the Pedersen Foundation.

Launching the Architect-in-Residence program continues to establish the IAM Lab and JHU as a global hub for neuroarts and for human-centered or neurospatial design. It creates a new model for interdisciplinary collaboration, one that breaks the firewall between the spatial sciences and the spatial arts and recognizes design not as a backdrop to human experience, but as a central force in solving intractable problems as well as shaping how we heal, learn, and live.

During his residency, Murphy will work closely with faculty, clinicians, researchers, students, and community partners to catalyze new ways of thinking about the built environment. Central to this effort will be the creation of interdisciplinary forums that bring together architects, neuroscientists, designers, the business community, healthcare leaders, and community stakeholders. This will include a series of salon-style conversations with national leaders around trauma-informed design, brain-machine hardware and software, and new criteria for measurement and evaluation in pilot projects being led by JHU faculty.

These gatherings, including public lectures, will serve as platforms to examine pressing challenges and opportunities in designing intentional spaces, particularly within clinical, academic, and community contexts with the ultimate goal of translating neurospatial design principles into real-world applications.

“Michael’s work exemplifies the profound impact that design can have on human health, wellness, and experience,” noted Susan Magsamen, Executive Director of the IAM Lab. “His ability to bridge architecture, equity, and healing aligns deeply with our mission at the IAM Lab. Welcoming him as our inaugural Architect-in-Residence is a rare and exciting opportunity to bring together global leaders and reimagine how intentional spaces can support the brain, the body, and the communities we serve.”

Murphy brings a distinctive and globally recognized perspective to this work. He is the founder of AMMA, a design and development collaborative focused on the ways in which space shapes our minds, bodies, and communities. “We are at a moment when the design of space can be more intentional, more evidence-based, and more humane than ever before,” Murphy commented. “By bringing together global leaders across disciplines, we can begin to shape environments that not only reflect who we are but actively support who we hope to become.”

Murphy’s practice rethinks the role of the architect and value of design by acting as systems artists for governments, institutions, non-profits, and developers who believe spatial change is possible and urgent. AMMA’s first built project, the Oceana Innovation Hub in Barbados, acts as a prototype for changing the “whole nation’s educational infrastructure” in the face of climate change with two future campuses in production now.

Before AMMA, Murphy was the lead founder and CEO of the non-profit design firm MASS Design Group. During his tenure, he led the design of such renowned projects as the Butaro District Hospital, the GHESKIO Cholera Treatment Center, The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, and The Gun Violence Memorial Project, to name a few. Under his leadership and vision, the firm received many awards and accolades including the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for Architecture in 2017 and the 2022 AIA Architecture Firm Award.

His work has been published in national news publications such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, Wired, Fast Company, The Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune, as well as magazines from Time, to Metropolis, Architectural Record, and The Atlantic, where he was named “One of tomorrow’s greatest designers.” Murphy was also recognized as Architecture Innovator of the Year by The Wall Street Journal, and earned the Royal Institute of British Architects International Fellowship in 2019.

Murphy’s own writing has been published in Harvard Design Magazine, Volume, The Boston Globe, Huffington Post, Stanford Social Innovation Review, The Journal of Architecture, Design Observer, Humanitas, and Monocle. In his recent book, Our World in Ten Buildings, Murphy explores how buildings embody and shape the values, histories, and power structures of societies—offering a framework for rethinking the role of architecture in contemporary life.

Murphy has held many positions in academia, including teaching design studios at Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, and the University of Michigan. From 2022-2026, he served as the Thomas W. Ventulett III Chair of Architecture at Georgia Institute of Technology, where his teaching and leadership focused on advancing design around spaces of memory and studying the impacts of catalytic change in built spaces. His tenure completed in spring 2026 with a conference he curated and led called “Our World In Design.”

In reflecting on the announcement of Murphy as the IAM Lab’s first Architect-in-Residence, Kara Hourihan, Executive Director of the Pedersen Foundation noted, “We at the Pedersen Foundation are excited for Michael Murphy to join forces with Johns Hopkins University and the IAM Lab to further the understanding of how environments deeply affect our human health, wellbeing, and emotions, as well as our ability to heal, create, and perform.”

About the International Arts + Mind Lab (IAM Lab)

The International Arts + Mind Lab, Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics (IAM Lab) is a multidisciplinary research-to-practice initiative at Johns Hopkins University that is accelerating the field of neuroarts through the study of neuroaesthetics. The IAM Lab is pioneering Impact Thinking, a translational research approach designed to solve intractable problems in health, wellbeing, and learning through the arts. The IAM Lab brings together brain scientists and practitioners in the visual and performing arts, architecture and design, and creative arts therapies to foster collaboration and research. The goal of the IAM Lab is to empower the global neuroaesthetics community to change the way we think today and enhance the way we live tomorrow.

Learn more about the Intentional Spaces Initiative at https://intentionalspaces.org/.

Learn more about Michael P. Murphy at https://ammaprojects.com/.

Press Contact: Catherine Law, [email protected] or [email protected]

Architecture Design Environment Health IAM Lab Johns Hopkins Medicine Neuroaesthetics Research Wellbeing