Michan Architecture
What are your names and where are you from/ based?
Isaac Michan Daniel and Alexandra Bove. We’re based in Mexico City, where Michan Architecture is also located.
Can you describe Michan Architecture in a few words?
Speculative, curious, and precise.
You describe your practice as a laboratory. What does experimentation look like in your architectural process?
Experimentation means pushing the limits of form and material through drawing, prototyping, and building. Each project becomes a way to test a hypothesis. Sometimes spatial, sometimes structural, sometimes cultural.
What does “misbehaving material” mean to you? Can you give an example of this?
It’s when a material glitches, either by performing unexpectedly or by revealing a character of its own, leading us toward unforeseen results. For example, we’ve experimented with terrazzo by creating the effect of extruding each stone vertically when it hits a wall, creating a kind of tectonic disruption. We’ve also explored cast-in-place concrete using varied formworks and textures to challenge its usual surface language.
How do you define “context” in your practice? Does it begin with geography, culture, history, or something else entirely?
Context isn’t only geographic, it’s also temporal and conceptual. It involves reading the site as a set of constraints and opportunities while also engaging with broader cultural and architectural narratives.
What kind of spaces do you hope to leave behind—socially, aesthetically, or conceptually?
Spaces that provoke curiosity. Spaces that can be read in multiple ways and remain open-ended in how they’re used or understood.
Is there an object in your home that you can’t quite pinpoint where it came from, but decided to keep anyway?
Yes, there’s a small concrete object, a failed cast, that reminds us how accidents can open up new possibilities. We kept it because it invites speculation.
When you design objects, are you thinking in architectural terms—structure, mass, proportion—or do you take a different approach?
Not exactly. We usually start in a very intuitive way, and then iterate and curate. At some point, the project starts to develop a logic of its own.
Can you tell us about a project that challenged your usual way of working or thinking?
Working on public projects has reshaped the way we approach architecture. It’s about addressing the collective while still being attentive to the individual experience.
If your practice had a soundtrack, what kind of music would it be?
It depends on the context. We try to be subtle but maintain certain values. It can be from RAP to Indie Rock of electronic.
Across projects, you seem to challenge traditional ideas of a façade. What does that mean to you?
We see the façade as more than just a surface. It’s a way to express depth, ambiguity, or contradiction. In some projects we question the façade, in others it’s the program, the material logic, or something else entirely.
Is there a ritual or habit that helps you stay grounded?
Drawing by hand or digitally and listening to music.
Where can people find you?
Instagram: @michanarchitecture
Website: michanarchitecture.com
Studio: Cerrada Monte Líbano 11C, Lomas de Chapultepec, 11000, Mexico City
