Murray Legge is an award-winning architect based in Austin, Texas, originally from Whitevale, Ontario, a rural community outside Toronto. Growing up surrounded by farmland while his father worked as an aeronautical engineer and his mother as a nurse, Murray developed an appreciation for craft, structure, and precision early in life.

Initially drawn to art and photography with ambitions of becoming a filmmaker, he studied architecture at the University of Toronto before transferring to The Cooper Union in New York City. There, the experimental and design-driven environment profoundly influenced his approach to space and material. During his studies, he gained hands-on experience working for architect Jerry Caldari and later at I.M. Pei & Partners, contributing to residential and civic projects, including work on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and high-end Park Avenue renovations.

After graduation, Murray returned to Ontario, collaborating with builder Don Miller to dismantle and restore historic barns near Shelburne—a formative experience that deepened his connection to material honesty and timber construction. A visit to a friend in Austin in 1998 led to a permanent move, drawn by the city’s creative energy, affordability, and architecture community. He spent several years with LZT Architects before founding Murray Legge Architecture in 2013.

His studio maintains a small-scale practice focused on residential, educational, and civic design. Notable work includes the Griffin School addition, numerous bespoke homes, and collaborations with Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates on park pavilions for the City of Austin. In addition, Murray co-leads a public art studio with his wife and sister, whose installations are featured in cities across the U.S.—links to which appear in the show’s liner notes.

Outside of practice, he enjoys drawing, playing the violin, and hiking Ontario’s Bruce Trail. His daughter is pursuing a PhD in biology at Syracuse University, researching soils and forest ecology.

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