Studio MK27 was founded by Marcio Kogan in the early 1980s and is Brazil's most prestigious design company. Today there are 50 architects and collaborators from many countries around the world.Founder Marcio Kogan is a teacher of the entire team and was born in São Paulo. Graduated from FAU Mackenzie in 1976, Marcio began his career as a filmmaker, but after the production of his first feature "Fogo e Paixão", he dedicated himself exclusively to architecture, leading a team of architects who, for the most part, have been working with him for over a decade.

In this master class, the founder of MK27, Marcio Kogan, and the executive director, Mariana, shared the development history, design philosophy, and specific design projects of the studio. Due to Marcio’s previous role as a movie director, “movie” elements play an important role in the design of MK27 studio: the widescreen, lighting, and teamwork are applied to every project. For MK27, the design should blur the boundaries between indoor and outdoor spaces and balance the volume of the building; thus achieving organic interaction and harmonious coexistence between space and environment.

Yinjispace：How to prevent mosquito and insect when sliding doors are used extensively in buildings?

MK27：It depends on the location. Sometimes, we use anti-mosquito windows in our projects. But in the São Paulo region of the Brazilian coast, where the mosquitoes are very aggressive, they only come out between 5:30 pm and 8 pm, so you need to close the door during that time. However, in the morning or at night, the door may be open. I once rented a house near the beaches of São Paulo which was a real paradise with beautiful natural scenery. One day, I suddenly decided to sit in a chair and look up at the sky. There were colorful birds, green, yellow, red, it was incredible to be surrounded by so much nature. But then, there were many mosquitoes and in that moment, I realized that life is not always perfect.

Yinjispace：How did you develop your own style? Have you ever encountered clients with completely different aesthetic concepts?

MK27：The early years of our career were very difficult because it was challenging to have high-quality clients, and this process could take up to ten years. Now, it is much easier because, during the planning of a project, our clients express their expectations. A project is like writing a script; there is a beginning, middle, and end. Aspects of the space are not always crystal clear, but they are often hinted at in the details. We try to guide people’s emotions through these design details.

Yinjispace：How to choose the material? What standards or principles are there?

MK27：The selection of materials starts right at the beginning of a project, and the first renderings already express a certain preference. For instance, whether a house is to be bright or dark, whether it is more primitive or more high-tech and industrial are all decided through negotiation between Marcio and Diana, our Interior Design Director. Therefore, we hardly ever separate the architectural design and interior design aspects of a project – we often do both. The entire form is a result of the interplay between space creation and the volume, reflected and expressed through material selection. Material is of great importance, and we put in a lot of effort in searching for the right ones.

Yinjispace：Could teachers please share what is on the wall behind them?

MK27：Every item here has a story, it's a collection of items from my life. Once, Marcio and I (Mariana) were teaching a week-long course in Los Angeles, and we didn't know the city very well. We spent most of our time locked up in a university with a large group of students. That week, we had our first hour-long break from teaching because the students had some questions to work on. So we thought naively, "Oh, let's go out and walk in the city." People may know that LA is not really a walking city, so we started walking on the freeway, feeling a bit lost, until we stumbled upon a vintage bowling alley - a really old-school one that felt like stepping back in time. It was 10 in the morning, and there were men drinking beers and playing bowling. There was a claw machine, and at least in my life, I've never seen anyone win something. Then Marcio said, "Oh, I have a coin, let's play." So he put the coin in, hit the button, and actually got one of the toys. People were cheering for us: "You hit the jackpot! You won a toy!" And it was like a trophy - we finally had won something in the claw machine, it was fun.

Yinjispace：How do you manage your team and assign tasks?

MK27：We have five of the most senior architects who are in charge of project coordination. Under each of these five architects, there is a manager who leads a team, comprising the core team that works on the project. We have different teams working on different aspects of the project. We strive to create a very stable team, and we hardly ever lay off anyone, so the team size curve is steadily increasing. Recently, due to the pandemic and increasing project demands, the number of architects has grown significantly. However, most of them have been working here for over a decade, and some have even been working here for more than twenty years. So there is a very stable relationship, where everyone respects and knows each other well.

Yinjispace：Flying river, the story concept of this space, how did you find it?

MK27：This idea was proposed by Marcello Dantas, an outstanding partner of our project and the mastermind behind many important exhibitions in Brazil. Actually, this is a contest with the theme of Brazil's role in sustainability in food production and how we use a portion of our products to feed the whole world. Marcello Dantas' idea is that we need to tell a story, namely how our land became fertile because of the phenomenon of flying rivers, and the creation of the entire exhibition and these experiences are all geared towards telling this story in an intuitive way. This is a very important way of calling on people's attention to a major problem - the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Brazil is surrounded by a lot of rainfall, so the fruit and crop production is also abundant, which is closely related to the flying rivers. Here, food is not just for nourishing Brazil, but also for nourishing the world. Marcello Dantas is an art curator, and we teamed up to participate in this contest, which was organized for architects and curator teams. He often collaborates with Chinese and global artists and we invited him to join us in creating a great team and telling a great story. He is very familiar with the flying rivers story, and in this regard, it's a perfect match.

Yinjispace：What will be the priority keywords for designers to communicate, think and promote at the beginning of architectural concept creation?

MK27：We are deeply influenced by Brazilian modernism, which emerged in the late 1930s, as well as Bossa Nova, which is a very important music trend in Brazil. Both of these elements have a significant impact on us. When designing the space, the team will quickly come up with two or three dozen design options, then select the best one, and finally continue to refine the design through two or three iterations. This moment is very important, and everyone is under a lot of pressure. Starting from zero is indeed difficult, and we prefer the design to continually evolve compared to the beginning of the project.

Yinjispace：Mr. Marcio, what qualities and characteristics do you think we need to focus on in order to become a great designer?

MK27：I put a lot of effort into research and design, not just through books and websites, but also through movies, fashion, literature, art, social media, etc. For me, it's important to synthesize all of these ideas. When I was a student of architecture, I also studied arts and literature. The early stages of starting a studio are very important, but also very challenging. My secret is to keep learning and to be patient.