Between Public and Private: Getting to Know the Work of MMMB Arquitetos

Written by Adele Belitardo | Translated by Diogo Simões
Published on June 16, 2023

With a broad and diversified portfolio in terms of typologies, scales, and project locations, MMBB Arquitetos is a versatile office with multiple activities. Founded in 1991 in the city of São Paulo, the office is currently composed of Maria João Figueiredo, Marta Moreira, and Milton Braga, and over the more than three decades of its operation, it has had among its partners Angelo Bucci, Vinicius Gorgati, and Fernando de Mello Franco, in addition to having carried out several partnerships with Paulo Mendes da Rocha.

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One of MMBB's main differentials is its critical thinking regarding projects, a reflection that is not limited to architecture as an isolated building but extends over the city and the broader urban context on which it will be built, seeking to contribute to it. The commitment to the public dimension of architecture, especially regarding the possibilities and permeabilities between the public and the private instances, is noteworthy in the office's production. In an interview, Marta Moreira, one of the founding partners, also defends the role and importance of architectural design to foster this type of interaction and dynamics. She also discusses spaces' appropriations, reinterpretations, and possible uses.

Architecture can be designed to allow this type of more spontaneous manifestation to happen. It can either allow it or not. It can be thought of in such a way that people feel comfortable manifesting themselves that way or not. — Marta Moreira

With this stance, the office can work not only in real estate and corporate circles, but also in cultural and academic circles, organizing and participating in seminars, cultural events, and exhibitions around the world. Some of the partners also work in university teaching and research, such as Marta Moreira, a professor at the Escola da Cidade in São Paulo, and Milton Braga, a professor at FAU-USP and a doctorate from the same institution. For MMBB, this plurality of activities and actions, as well as collaboration with different companies and professionals, has become necessary "in the face of the comprehensiveness and complexity of the challenges of the contemporary city."

The office's projects range from housing, exhibition pavilions, and institutional buildings to urban infrastructure equipment, such as bus terminals and walkways, from São Paulo to Dubai. Among the most well-known and award-winning projects is the Sesc 24 de Maio, carried out in partnership with the architect who won the Pritzker Prize for Architecture, Paulo Mendes da Rocha, a building that encompasses a complex program and a series of installations and services in the center of São Paulo and has become a reference for intervention in pre-existing structures.

The approaches of MMBB, in its broad performance and dedication to the architectural environment, in addition to promoting more fluid, permeable, and functional spaces, collaborate with an important critical reflection for the professional field itself. Below are some of their projects: