A Fusion of Culture and Design
Marshall Moya Design Draws Inspiration from Dynamic, Multicultural Experiences
When a company’s employees speak a total of eight languages and are from 12 different countries, diversity is bound to be a natural extension of the group. The team at Marshall Moya Design in Washington, D.C., is a multicultural, multidimensional assembly that blends a passion for heritage with design.
For a small firm, Marshall Moya Design is making a big impact in terms of how it improves the built environment, enhances communities and betters society as a whole.
A Strong Foundation for Partnership
The firm’s foundation began with Michael Marshall, a D.C. native. The son of a D.C. public school bus driver and housekeeper, Marshall was drawn to architecture when he was 11 years old and first saw a blueprint. He attended the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) in 1975 before moving on to The Catholic University of America (CUA) to earn his Bachelor of Arts degree. Marshall’s next stop was Yale University, where he earned his Master of Arts degree in architecture. Marshall founded Marshall Architecture in 1989 and laid the groundwork for what became Marshall Moya Design in 2010, when he partnered with Paola Moya.
Moya moved to the United States from Bogotá, Colombia, in 1998 with her siblings and parents. She had studied law in Colombia, and was the first person in her family to obtain a job in the U.S. She did everything from delivering pizzas to walking dogs before being hired at a malpractice law firm. It did not take Moya long to realize that this was not her ideal career path because, she says, there was no passion in it. “My mission was to help people and to make that part of my everyday task,” Moya says. “I have an artistic side, so I wanted to do something that allowed me to be creative.”
Moya says she was fortunate to find a full-time administrative job with an architectural firm while she attended Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland, at night, where she earned an associate degree. She then obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at CUA, all while still working full time. She met Marshall while developing her thesis, and they joined forces to take Marshall’s architecture firm to the next level.
Diversity of Staff and Skills
Today, Marshall Moya Design—designated as a “boutique architecture and design studio” by the company’s leadership—focuses on architecture, master plans, interior design and branding. The firm’s architects have completed many high-profile projects, including: the $29 million restoration of The Howard Theatre, a registered historic theater in northwest Washington, D.C.; the Chuck Brown Memorial Park, a new 42,000-square-foot public space created in tribute to musician Chuck Brown (also in northwest Washington, D.C.); and a new student center at UDC’s Van Ness Campus in Washington, D.C., a collaboration with CannonDesign, the architect of record. Current ventures include the new D.C. United Stadium, the Washington Wizards’ new practice facility, and various projects for MGM Resorts International (MGM).
The company’s branding division is a unique entity, created as a way to further enhance a client’s vision. The graphic design team makes logos, signs and marketing materials that coordinate with a project’s overall design intent. At the MGM National Harbor venue in Prince George’s County in Maryland, for instance, the team was asked to design a food hall inspired by an outdoor food market. The firm’s process was to name/baptize the project and design a logo for it. Through the logo, the branding began where the colors and textures on the food hall’s walls, floors and furniture are as vibrant and real as the international culinary experiences that inspired the space.
“Our greatest strength is the depth of our designs, which comes from our expertise. It serves us really well when we do more than just architecture or interior design.” Paola Moya, CEO and Principal, Marshall Moya Design
“Our greatest strength is the depth of our designs, which comes from our expertise,” Moya says. “It serves us really well when we do more than just architecture or interior design.”
Yoshio Inazumi is a Project Manager with the firm. A native of Tokyo, Japan, Inazumi worked at Michael Marshall Architecture before taking his talents to another firm for several years. In May 2016, he returned to Marshall Moya Design so he could work on a diverse portfolio of projects. “Marshall Moya has so many different types of projects with different kinds of buildings. I like to work on everything. Residential, schools, theaters, stadiums. I don’t do just one thing,” he says.
Of course what Inazumi designs is influenced by his Japanese heritage, but it is his exceptional connection with people—stemming from his multicultural background—that makes him an asset and unique architect.
Inazumi believes it is tough for clients to visualize what they truly want. He finds early meetings to be vital because it is where he can tap into understanding a client’s desires. Inazumi says he always presents a few options to clients, and during presentations he watches clients’ facial expressions and reactions. He feels their outward expressions often are more telling than what they actually say.
Before clients get the opportunity to work with Inazumi or one of the other 15 staff members at Marshall Moya Design, Moya challenges building owners to become informed customers and consider what an architectural firm truly offers. In her mind, an architect should deliver more than a design. At the same time, she feels architects need to keep in mind that the structures they create could last 50 to 100 years, and those buildings should be designed to be safe,
efficient and beautiful for that time frame.
Looking forward, Moya is intrigued by how many architectural firms engage social science in their designs to evaluate and enhance the emotional and spiritual sides of a space.
“We are at another level than sustainable design these days,” she says. “Design is not just about being green or economical. We now anticipate how to treat problems so structures can withstand the floodwaters in Louisiana, for instance. We look at how we work with security and terrorism, and how to possibly address climate change with design. These are all design considerations that everyone is eager to figure out.”
Philanthropy and Service
Helping those in need in the District of Columbia is a core mission of the firm. One way it meets this goal is through a partnership with Broad Futures, a program that transitions young adults with non-apparent disabilities into the workforce through holistic training, mentoring and paid internships. Marshall Moya Design has hired several of the interns who have completed the program, some going on to further their educations—a point of pride for both Moya and Marshall.
Students at Elizabeth Seton High School, an all-girls Catholic school in Bladensburg, Maryland, also participate in an internship program at Marshall Moya Design. The private school has a high concentration of students who are interested in engineering and other creative or technical skills. By teaming up with one of the architectural firm’s staff members, students can experience what it would be like in their dream careers—and see that those occupations are indeed attainable.
“This, in some cases, is the first job and the first experience in something these students think they want to study,” Moya says. “They learn to follow basic standard protocols, and how to feel comfortable and confident in their knowledge while evolving that desire.”
The firm’s philanthropy reaches outside of the D.C. area to people and causes around the globe, to help solve humanitarian crises. This year in May, Marshall and Moya attended the World Humanitarian Summit’s 2016 Exhibition Fair in Istanbul to showcase their Urban Plan for Internally Displaced People (IDP) in Cartagena, Colombia. This master plan is intended to provide a means for social reintegration by design through a regionally and economically sustainable housing typology. Currently, Colombia has the world’s second highest number of IDPs, at around 5 million. Creating such housing was Moya’s thesis topic during her grad school years and has been a passion of hers since.
Leading by Example
It is no wonder that the staff at Marshall Moya Design does more than just design—the firm is led by individuals with a strong work ethic and sense of self. Their cultural ties and respect for diversity impact local and global communities while challenging architecture professionals to be more and do more.
Marshall Moya Design may be a small boutique, but evidence of its inspired, multicultural designs and philanthropic values are seen in communities in D.C. and around the globe.