MASS Design Group is a 200-strong non-profit joining architects, engineers, ecologists, and more to put communities and their environments at the center of the design, creating an architecture that promotes social justice and projects new possibilities for the future. The name is an acronym: ‘Model of Architecture Serving Society.’

At the Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture, MASS is placing this mission statement at the center of its approach at a whole new scale. Testing low-carbon construction methods, sourcing almost all their materials from regional suppliers, and empowering local communities through their continued participation, the project aims to maximize impact while treading lightly on the earth, across the 3,400-acre site and beyond.

Joe Christa Giraso is a landscape architect on the MASS team, overseeing the conservation of the savannah woodlands on site. Through “building deep relationships with collaborators [and] learning from and exchanging lessons learned,” Giraso aims to promote a holistic understanding of how our built environments are made, nurturing a deeper notion of ‘sustainability,’ rooted in context, communities, and care.