What makes us human after all? MODU’s design process is grounded in three core values: indoor urbanism, second nature, and public floor.

Indoor Urbanism

Indoor urbanism envisions buildings with fewer boundaries, with architecture at the intersection of two contrasting scales—the urban and the interior. Increasingly, activities traditionally associated with indoor spaces are taking place in outdoor urban environments. Simultaneously, interiors reflect the open-ended nature of cities. Together, these shifts encourage a reimagining of the environmental thresholds that connect architecture, cities, and interiors.

Public Floor

The public floor is active, ephemeral, and dynamic. Experiences on this ‘floor’ are constantly changing—whether on a city’s sidewalks, in its lobbies, streets, shops, or parks. Daily social interactions unfold between members of the public. The interior realm is reconsidered as an integral part of the city, shaped by the activities that move through it, making it inherently more inclusive.

MODU conducts design-led research to develop innovative strategies of climate adaptation for our cities and beyond.

Self-Cooling Walls

In Houston’s hot climate, self-cooling concrete walls are cast with corrugation patterns that help release solar heat more rapidly when passed over by wind. Research demonstrated varying cooling rates based on the patterning, with a significant difference compared to flat, non-corrugated panels.

More intricate patterns are used on walls exposed to direct sunlight to enhance self-cooling. The increased surface area of the corrugations, along with transpiration from abundant plants, helps create more comfortable microclimates. These passive design strategies improve human experience and environmental impact while contributing to a distinctive visual expression.

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Coral Footings

Public installations typically generate significant amounts of construction waste, which ends up in landfills. However, they can be designed for recycling or reuse from the outset. In Miami, a steel structure was left unpainted to facilitate recycling, while concrete footings were donated to an artificial reef program.

The footings were cast with a network of holes for future marine life and concrete textures specifically designed to promote coral growth. After de-installation, the footings were lowered to the seabed to form the artificial reef.

More information here

MODU launches initiatives to design for better futures. We work as creative entrepreneurs, engaging proactively with new ventures.

Horizontal City

Research on the horizontal city shifts emphasis from New York’s vertical identity to highlight its public floor. Mapping the city’s sidewalks and streets documents the seasonal shadows cast by permanent structures, like buildings and trees, and temporary ones, such as the private outdoor dining structures prompted by the pandemic.

Second Life

Second Life consists of “mini-buildings”: free-standing, modular structures that adapt to different sites, whether within a building or in an open lot. These structures activate overlooked assets in neighborhoods—sites that are indoors, outdoors, or even in-between—revitalizing properties while building communities. Our cities face a persistent problem: there is an abundance of underutilized spaces at the same time as there is an urgent need for affordable and adaptable spaces.