In this month’s Client Spotlight we talk with our longtime friend and client Alex Mustonen, co-Founder of Snarkitecture, one of the world’s most original design studios. Since 2013, our firm is grateful to have worked with Alex and his team on a number of exciting projects around the world, from the creation of “The Beach,” an interactive architectural installation designed by Snarkitecture for the National Building Museum in July 2015, to a recent collaboration with Caesarstone that was part of Milan Design Week. As a result of their tireless commitment to innovation, working with Snarkitecture has presented us with the opportunity to work on a host of interesting intellectual property issues. Check out the first monograph on Snarkitecture, published by Phaidon with an introduction by Maria Cristina Didero.
1. Name: Alex Mustonen
2. Company: Snarkitecture
3. Role: Partner and co-founder.
4. Firm client since: 2013
5. What does Snarkitecture do? Snarkitecture makes architecture perform the unexpected. We are a collaborative practice that aims to explore the areas between the disciplines of art and architecture. We work at a wide range of scales, disciplines and durations, from objects to installations to architectural-scale work, and including both temporary and permanent projects. One of our primary objectives is to make architecture accessible and engaging for a wide audience, often by taking a familiar element from our everyday surroundings and finding ways to reimagine it to create a transformative and memorable experience.
6. What are some interesting projects on the horizon? We recently released our first book in collaboration with Phaidon to coincide with the tenth year of Snarkitecture. Somewhat related, we are staging our first museum exhibition dedicated to Snarkitecture’s work and practice from the last ten years – the show opens at the National Building Museum in Washington DC on July 4. We also are at work on new object collaborations, public installations for New York in June and Hong Kong in August, a nightclub, a parking garage, and some larger retail projects for 2019.
7. What else keeps you busy? Outside of Snarkitecture, my fiancée and I have been upstate as much as we can, working on the house we recently bought there and spending time outdoors.