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About the Book
Courtesy the publisher
Seeking Abundance: Design, Ecology and a Flourishing Planet, a new book that illustrates how regenerative design and building can heal our planet and communities by halting biodiversity loss, reversing climate change, and improving social equity.
Seeking Abundance is a photographic and geographical exploration of cross-collaboration in design’s effect on ecological and cultural restoration. Set across three African landscapes: the Congo Basin, Savannah Woodland, and Afromontane Forest, the book immerses readers in stories of earth, clay, hand-shaped timber, and wetlands reborn as living infrastructure. Readers are able to see a way in which we can shape our collective future, knowing that every act of design can advance a more just, balanced, and beautiful world.
Media Sponsor: Architectural Record
Speaker Bio: Alan Ricks
Alan is a Founding Principal and Co-Executive Director at Model of Architecture Serving Society (MASS). Under his leadership, MASS has garnered international acclaim for its innovative approach to addressing global challenges through design. He continues to collaborate on and lead a diverse range of projects and oversees a group of interdisciplinary teams that support design and research across the practice.
Alan regularly teaches advanced architecture studios, including at Harvard University and Yale University, where he was most recently the Louis I. Khan Visiting Professor. Alan has presented at universities, conferences, and events around the globe. He has written and produced films focused on the role of architecture in catalyzing social change. Chris Anderson, chief curator of TED, described his TED talk as “a different language about what architecture can aspire to be.”
Alan was honored with an International Fellowship from the Royal Institute of British Architects in appreciation of his significant contributions to the field. He is also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders, a community working towards positive change and progress in various fields. The governor of Massachusetts appointed him to the Designer Selection Board to select firms for state-funded work, and during his two terms, he also served as chair. He is also a member of the Harvard University Design Advisory Council.
Alan holds a Master of Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Colorado College, where he was also bestowed an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree.
About MASS:
Model of Architecture Serving Society (MASS) transforms bold ideas into transformative architecture and landscapes. Rooted in leading research, visionary thinking, and deep local knowledge and expertise, MASS creates civic spaces that set new standards for design excellence.
MASS’s Design Labs turn insights from our projects into sustained movements for change. Through research, catalytic pilot projects, and systems change work, the Labs bring impact to scale—addressing the root causes of inequality and ecological crisis.
MASS was incorporated as a design nonprofit 501(c)3 in 2010. MASS celebrated its 15th anniversary as a global design nonprofit in 2025. MASS’s first book, Justice is Beauty, was a monograph of their first body of work, published in 2019.