Christiana Moss
CHRISTIANA MOSS is managing principal and a founding partner of Studio Ma, the current AIA Arizona Firm of the Year and a recent Architectural Record Design Vanguard Firm. Her interests in advanced environmental design and the relationship between natural and cultural systems inform her design philosophy. She is one of fiveStudio Ma principals and practices collaboratively with Christopher Alt, Dan Hoffman, Jason Boyer and Tim Keil. The hallmark of studio is a commitment to sustainability and research, seen most recently in Princeton University’s net-zero ready 715-bed Lakeside Graduate Student Community.
As part of the firm’s mission of advancing the practice of sustainable design, Studio Ma has recently developed a “triple net-zero” concept for higher education research buildings and practices using an integrated design process, for its campus, cultural and urban infill projects. Their work on university campuses focuses on student residential life, academic and research projects. Other notable recent projects include Scottsdale’s Museum of the West, a Smithsonian affiliate, Arizona State University’s Manzanita Hall, Northern Arizona University’s Native American Cultural Center, the Cranbrook Institute of Science addition, master planning and cabin prototypes for Summit Powder Mountain, PRD845 and artHAUS, an urban infill development. Studio Ma has received significant recognition for their work, including AIA Arizona Honor awards, the Chicago Athenaeum and SCUP/AIA National Honor for Building Design. Their buildings have been featured in Metropolis, Architectural Record and The New York Times.
Christiana received her Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University's College of Architecture, Art and Planning.
3 words to describe Nature?
Essential
Integral
Threatened
3 things Nature taught you?
Humility
Awe
Self-reflection
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Fire Island
Oak Creek Canyon, AZ
My back yard
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
When I’m looking out to the ocean I feel small and infinite at the same time.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
When I’m in a forest I feel sheltered, embraced and connected to the earth.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
I haven’t seen a volcano yet.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Thankful for its rising and anxious for its return when it sets.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Hearing thunder makes me want to seek shelter.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
I enjoy feeling the wind on my face and prefer to be in it instead of hearing it from the indoors.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
This is a difficult question. I love them all and they are all connected, perhaps some at different times. I began as an ocean person. The desert was once an ocean and I now enjoy the expanse of sky of both, the silhouette of mountains and the unique life water’s absence creates in the desert. The forest is a place I go to be immersed in the smells and sounds of the earth and I long for this too, perhaps I will become a forest person.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
1 (being most important)
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I lived as a child on Fire Island without cars, free to run and swim in the ocean, walking in sand barefoot all summer long, picking blueberries and chasing rabbits. I lost this when I moved to New York when I was 12 and I’ve been longing to return to life without a city ever since.
Rick Roberts
RICK ROBERTS is the Director, Hospitality Operations for Summit Powder Mountain in beautiful Eden, Utah. Summit Powder Mountain is a year-round destination for an ongoing program of events and activities - a home to the emergent culture of creativity and collaboration exemplified by the Summit community. Summit Powder Mountain is the largest skiable resort in North America and is preserving its magical skiing experience for generations to come and to save it from overdevelopment. Summit is now focused on building a new urban village at 8600 feet, showing that by developing a portion of the mountain responsibility, the entirety can be saved from overdevelopment.
Prior to joining the Summit family, Rick served 21 years in the Air Force as a dedicated and experienced thought leader and innovator with a history of delivering measurable results while leading teams of 500 in dynamic, combat and non-combat environments. He is a highly decorated veteran that possess a comprehensive background of managing large scale hospitality operations, fitness and recreation programs, human resources, and capital planning.
Additionally, he volunteers for Healthy Body Healthy Life, a non-profit educating individuals, changing families and growing communities. He is extremely passionate about outdoor recreation and the therapeutic effects it can have for veterans challenged with post-traumatic stress.
3 words to describe Nature?
Inspiring, calming, pure
3 things Nature taught you?
Humility, courage, determination
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Havasu Falls, Interlocken, Switzerland, Cliffs of Moher
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Vulnerable...it's another world
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Curious
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Powerful
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Thankful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Anxious
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Attentive
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Mountain
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I was always fond of being out on a lake fishing with my Dad. After serving in WWII, Korea and Vietnam, fishing brought him peace and joy. I appreciate those special moments with him.