Mariana Schmidt

Ana Rita Sevilha: What was the basis for the foundation of MNMA Studio and what inspired its creation? Mariana Schmidt: I like to think of MNMA as a transdisciplinary studio, working with the fleeting and the permanent. Since its creation in 2014, we have upheld an original approach: landscape and design together, without any separation, integrating art, architecture, landscape design and interiors. It is in this transdisciplinary process that diverse professionals – from architects to visual artists – explore a variety of perspectives, rendering our working method into a simultaneous exploration of traditional craftsmanship and technology, while always working collaboratively.

MNMA sounds like “minimal” in Portuguese. Does it have anything to do with a starker aesthetic? The name refers to the “minimal scale”, the tiniest grain of architecture. Our projects are about everyday subtleties and even when we broaden the scale that thread continues to be our guiding thread.

What impact might a minimal element or a strippeddown space have on how people interact with it? Architecture is an art that enhances experiences, because even when we think of controlling the design, humans then subvert it. We are finally realising the complexity of designing something for experiences that are concerned not with masses but with representativity. Architecture is also about building using space and time, in other words, movement, so spaces are only made whole when they are at the service of living.