Designing a Welcoming Future with Maya Bird-Murphy

Originally published in Great Spaces Issue 3

Maya Bird-Murphy is opening a new path into architecture, one Chicago community at a time. 

Long before Maya Bird-Murphy imagined founding Mobile Makers, the nonprofit she created to introduce architecture and design to young people across Chicago, she was simply a kid looking up.

“I just remember being really into the buildings downtown,” she says. “I knew what architecture was pretty early.”

Chicago’s skyline is a powerful teacher. For many, it’s a source of civic pride or visual wonder. For Bird-Murphy, it was an early signal that the built environment held stories—and possibilities. But it wasn’t until high school that architecture became personal.

“I remember thinking, how is this a job?” she says, laughing. “We were doing studio projects and drawing, and it didn’t feel like work at all.” That sense of alignment led her to study architecture at Ball State University in Indiana, where her relationship with the profession began to evolve. The deeper she went into the program, the more she noticed who and what were missing: There were few people of color and the curriculum was centered largely on traditional European designers. While she valued the education, she began questioning the boundaries of the field and looking beyond the conventional lens she was being taught to use.

She began exploring humanitarian and community-centered design—approaches that focused less on iconic buildings and more on how design could improve everyday life. When she graduated in 2014 and returned to Chicago, she expected to find a more diverse professional landscape. Instead, the reality was familiar. At her first job, she was the only Black person in the office.

The experience didn’t diminish her love of architecture, but it reshaped how she wanted to practice it. She began asking herself how the field could feel more meaningful, more accessible, and more reflective of the communities it serves.

That question would eventually lead to Mobile Makers, a new way of bringing design directly into the communities it had long overlooked.

Her thesis became an opportunity to explore nontraditional ideas—specifically, how architecture education could reach people outside academic and professional pipelines. She began challenging the long-standing gatekeeping within the field, asking how design could become more accessible to those who had never been invited into it.

Encouraged by her advisor to take the idea further, she began shaping what would become Mobile Makers. By September 2017, the organization officially launched. While still working another job, she started building curriculum and experimenting with ways to introduce design thinking to young people across Chicago neighborhoods.

One of the most memorable solutions came in the form of a retired mail truck, which Bird-Murphy retrofitted into a mobile design studio and traveling classroom that could bring hands-on activities directly into communities.

When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted schools and programming across the city, that model proved unexpectedly powerful. Because Mobile Makers was already designed to operate outside, the truck became a way to continue programming while also bringing a sense of hope and light to neighborhoods during a difficult time. 

Today, the mobile studio allows kids and families to encounter design at a highly approachable level. Participants don’t need prior exposure to architecture to engage—just curiosity. Activities range from simple, playful exercises to more immersive builds, often inspired by familiar elements of Chicago’s built environment, from greystones to worker cottages.

A Space to Belong

For Bird-Murphy, the impact of Mobile Makers isn’t measured solely in future architects. 

“If a kid has fun and does something different for an hour, to me that’s already a win,” she says.

But over time, the deeper transformations become clear. Some students return again and again, drawn to a space where they feel a sense of ownership and belonging.

“Mobile Makers is truly like none other,” says Rosondunnii Marshall, whose nine-year-old daughter participates in the program. “The value of accessibility and diversity is most prominent. Especially in our neighborhood, I am grateful we have this space in our community.”

The environment itself is intentionally designed. Materials are placed within reach, scaled to the children who use them, reinforcing a sense of autonomy and creative control. Over time, access builds confidence. A child who enters the program at eight years old might leave at 18 with a portfolio of drawings, prototypes, and ideas—along with skills in collaboration, communication, and creative problem-solving that extend far beyond design. 

“I think some of them will go into design careers,” Bird-Murphy says. “But even if they don’t, they’re learning how to think creatively and solve problems.”

Building Community Through Design

The nonprofit’s permanent home on Chicago’s West Side has opened new possibilities for programming and community engagement, transforming Mobile Makers into more than a place for workshops. It’s become a hub where students, parents, designers, and community leaders come together to share ideas, build relationships, and explore new paths forward. 

The space supports after-school programs and public events, but it also creates room for deeper connection. One initiative, Design Summit for Friends of Friends, invites speakers from a wide range of disciplines—including athletes, creatives, and entrepreneurs—to connect with young people exploring different career paths. As Bird-Murphy describes it, the goal is simple: to bring people into the same room for real conversations that extend beyond design to culture, identity, opportunity, and belonging.

That sense of openness carries into the broader community. The space regularly hosts block parties, shared meals, and informal gatherings that invite neighbors in and create opportunities for dialogue. For Bird-Murphy, that’s the point.

“It’s about more than architecture,” she says. “It’s about creating a place where people feel welcome.” For now, Mobile Makers continues to expand its reach through youth programs, partnerships, and small-scale design projects that bridge the gap between professional practice and everyday life. And for the young designers stepping into its studio each week, that blueprint may be the most powerful lesson of all.

Designing What Doesn’t Yet Exist

As Mobile Makers approaches its ninth year, Bird-Murphy continues to see the organization as an evolving experiment. Funding  challenges remain, and the broader architecture profession still has work to do when it comes  to representation and equity. The pace of change, she notes, can feel slow.

Still, she remains optimistic about what’s possible through collective effort. She often imagines what the impact could be if similar programs existed across the country—if more  communities had access to the tools, language, and opportunities that design can offer.

For now, Mobile Makers continues to expand its reach through youth programs, partnerships, and small-scale design projects that bridge the gap between professional practice and everyday life. And for the young designers stepping into its studio each week, that blueprint may be the most powerful lesson of all.