Mary Burnham is a founding partner of MBB Architects in her native city of New York. Her practice is centered on a belief in the transformative power of architecture and a humanistic design approach, which integrates placemaking, experiential form, daylight, and nuanced materiality to elevate both individual and collective lives. Her work encompasses educational, cultural, civic, and residential projects, all designed with a sustainable focus. Her design sensibility and mastery of color and light are influenced, in part, by her experience as a painter. Mary graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and received a Master of Architecture from Yale University School of Architecture. She has served on design juries at Pratt Institute, Parsons The New School, and Yale University. She currently serves on the Board of the Architectural League of New York and on the League’s Nominating Committee. She is the Founding Board Chair of Lighthouse Works, an artists’ resident fellowship program, and has served on the Honors Committee of the New York Chapter of the AIA. She was elected to the College of Fellows of the AIA in 2018.
