Matt Fajkus Architecture Establishes MFx, Trains Next Generation of Designers

This summer, Associate Professor Matt Fajkus and his practice Matt Fajkus Architecture launched a new collaborative identity, MFx. As an extension of the firm, MFx was created to explore unknown variables in the field of architecture, with the intention of adding a new dynamic to Austin's creative scene.

The inaugural MFx program, referred to as MFx16, was comprised of eleven student collaborators for the summer of 2016. The group, chosen from an overwhelming number of applicants, came from various schools of architecture from around the country and included: current UTSOA students Fiona (Yee Sang) Wong [BArch ’18], Kendall Claus [MArch ’16], Sean O’Brien [MArch ’16], and Ui Jun Song [BArch ’18]; Zahid Alibhai of Cornell University [M Arch ’16] and UTSOA [Bs ArchEngi ’10]; Ashley Dotson of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute [BArch’19]; Garrett Callen of Texas A&M University [BEnvirn Design ’16]; Janet Ni of Rice University School of Architecture [BArch’19]; Paul Holmes of Tulane University School of Architecture [MArch ’18]; and Jeremy Jackson and Laura Kurtz of Louisiana State University School of Architecture [BArch ’17].    

The program is in the interest of MF Architecture being a reflective practice which not only designs and realizes buildings, but also aims to learn from its built and unbuilt projects in an experimental loop.  The firm has created a workflow that allows the office to think more experimentally, creatively, and critically.

“For me, this moment in time represents a critical junction in the evolution of our practice," says Professor Fajkus. "Over the past several years, we have been fortunate to develop a diverse body of creative work, and I feel that now is both the time to take a step back to critically analyze the work we’ve done and to simultaneously delve into new exploratory work. Our new work going into the future will be partially spawned by defined trajectories, arisen from this summer’s analysis."

"In the midst of an increasingly distracted and digitally-driven culture, the relevance of architecture is increasingly under question, especially with consultant specialties and tech companies on the rise,“ Fajkus continues. “The Museum of Modern Art in New York, for example, is closing its gallery related to architecture and design. Is architecture becoming less significant? How can we increase its relevance and affect more positive change though design? That’s what MFx is here for. The buzz of creative energy in the office has been inspiring. Similar to our installation designs, each MFx initiative is meant to be different than conventional architectural practice. We have enjoyed the exciting discoveries and opportunities this collaborative identity has continued to bring.”

Aside from working on applied production, one of the most notable projects completed by MFx16 is the conceptualization of “University Island” - a design competition created by Young Architects Competitions (YAC). The competition calls for entries to transform Poveglia, a deserted island a stone’s throw from the main islands of Venice, into a dynamic study and research center. The MFx team was organized into three overlapping groups to tackle the program from different angles:

Scheme 1: UN-versity
Team members: Garret Callen, Jeremy Jackson, and Ashley Dotson

UN-versity celebrates the Island’s dark history and abandonment. This concept allows the island to remain inaccessible, in isolation, while having the design activate a radically un-isolated education network, composed of a virtual network of people within a real network of buildings. A new central Data Tower stands as a visual and virtual beacon within a network of towers located on surrounding islands, allowing cyber education. The structure is constructed from prefabricated members that can be added as necessary, and the expansion and repair of the tower can be addressed within the architecture of the Tower itself. A mechanical process eliminates human contact almost entirely, and a large water-powered energy generator sustains the operation as well as providing cooling for the systems. UN-versity, therefore, dominates the island without disturbing the reclamation of Poveglia by Mother Nature and counters the choice of more typical architectural intervention. Its celebration of architecture as a machine welcomes the regenerative abilities of nature.


Scheme 2: Terra Innova
Team members: Sean O’Brien, Janet Ni, Ui Jun Song, and Laura Kurtz

From an opposite view, Terra Innova challenges cultural norms of design intervention within the natural environment by eliminating the implications of stability and control. Terra Innova achieves this via the introduction of a network of canals that shape the existing landscape at varied cadences. The design is divided into four separate zones carved from the intersection of the existing canal and a new canal that runs along the length of the island. The living zone, preservation zone, research zone, and regenerative zones are connected by elevated paths organized along a deformed grid that is influenced by the existing landscape. These paths are also incrementally placed to join programmatic elements, and support the islanders’ mental separation from the island’s dark and unhealthy past. Terra Innova acknowledges the inevitable threat of rising waters and embraces the necessity for ecosystems to change and fluctuate over time. It provides an environment in which faculty and students research to improve not only local but global issues regarding water pollution, animal habitat preservation, and ecological systems.


Scheme 3: Gradient
Team members: Kendall Claus, Paul Holmes, and Fiona (Yee Sang) Wong

The Gradient attempts to dissolve the negative stigma of the island by instead using its isolation and natural surroundings for personal growth and independence of those with autism. The organization of the island and the incorporation of sensory responsive spaces respond to the special needs of a varied spectrum of types of autism ranging from hyper- to hypo-sensitive. The design proposal creates a gradient from high and low intensity zones, which addresses the need for differentiation between sensory stimulating and the sensory calming program. This gradient represents variability in quality that is similar to the variation seen across the spectrum of the disorder. The separate special zones are accentuated by the erosion of past architectural forms within a frame of familiarity: the changing colors of the landscape and tidal water elements. The Gradient scheme is a continuing in research and experimental design based on a proposal for the North Brother Island School of Autistic Children in New York City by Frances Peterson and MF Architecture’s Ian M. Ellis. Ellis also volunteers and serves as an Advisory Board Member for Magic Always Happens – a multi-disciplinary non-profit organization focused on research, testing, and implementation of innovative design regarding autism at an international scale.