Mattaforma is an architectural practice that draws on a parallel project of material and environmental research to conceive of architecture as an actionable medium towards a more equitable planet.

Jean Suh is the Founding Principal of Mattaforma. She is a registered architect in New York and a LEED Accredited Professional. She holds an M.Arch from Yale School of Architecture and a BS in Architecture from the University of Virginia. She previously led international projects with Studio Gang and Joel Sanders Architect in New York, and contributed to projects at Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates in Philadelphia. From the residential towers One Delisle and Mission Rock to single family homes in the Hudson Valley, Jean has built an expertise in managing and delivering complex, award-winning projects through close collaboration with clients, industry leaders and builders to achieve impactful, cost-effective, concept-driven architecture.

Lindsey Wikstrom is the Founding Principal of Mattaforma and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Previously, she contributed to projects with The Living, Studio Gang, ArandaLasch, and Wendell Burnette Architects. She holds an M.Arch from Columbia University, where she was awarded the Charles McKim Prize, Visualization Award, and Avery 6 Award. Lindsey is also the recipient of the SOM Prize. Her research on mass timber and healthy building materials has been published in Embodied Energy and Design: Making Architecture between Metrics and Narratives, Broken Nature: Design Takes on Human Survival, Faktur, Cite, e-flux, Urban Omnibus, and others. In 2022, her Advanced IV M.Arch studio Fringe Timber: An Ethics of Care in a Vertical Commons received an honorable mention for the ASCA Timber Education Prize.

Approach

Shaping the next generation of buildings in our built environment requires an ethical underpinning, a new perspective towards resources. Material choice is one of the greatest levers we have in this regard; it’s the moment we actively eliminate carbon from our palette. It’s when existing or new supply chains are affirmed or denied; which is why we invest in research focusing on contextual technical, historic, and cultural material values.

From high-rise residential towers to small family houses, from a worker's view on the factory floor to the sounds of bamboo chimes above an outdoor classroom, the office is interested in architecture that fosters a connection between people and the rest of the natural world, at any scale. We are dedicated to environments that are welcoming and equitably navigated, where communities feel free to create and build cultural narratives over time.

One of the ways we bring together the many stakeholders in a project and manage the complex stewardship of resources is by integrating data and applying the power of computation. This approach helps us generate a wide range of possibilities that would not otherwise be possible. We work with clients and experts to jointly imagine opportunities for improving forms of wellness and expanding the types of spaces that we enjoy spending time in. After all, architecture is an investment on behalf of one's mental and physical health, a foundation to grow community, and a gift to future generations.

Invitations

ACSA Juror
Timber in the City 4: Urban Habitats Competition, 2022

Associative Practice Lecture
Spaces of Exception at CCNY, Invited by Lindsay Harkema, 2021

Who Builds Your Architecture? Here, There, and Elsewhere Lecture
Non-Extractive Architecture by Joseph Grima and Space Caviar
V–A–C Zattere, Venice Biennale, 2021

Pre-projective Materials Lecture
Invited by Andres Jaque for Techno-Critical Assemblies
Columbia GSAPP Advanced Architectural Design, 2021

Collaborations: The Secret Lives of Architecture Lecture
WBYA?, Invited by Beatriz Colomina
Princeton University, 2020

Drawing on the City Lecture
Invited by Tei Carpenter at UT Daniels, 2020

Three Material Stories exhibited
Broken Nature Milan Triennale XXII Symposium, 2019

Empathy + Immersion Symposium moderator with invited guests Jessica Brillhart, Steven K Feiner, Keiichi Matsuda, and Frank Rose, 2017

Past & Present Collaborators

Studio Elana Schlenker
Bldg Works
Material Bureau
Design Advocates
BAAO Studio
Studio For
Who Builds Your Architecture?
Drawing Agency
Michael K Chen Architecture
JIMA Studio
Ifeoma Ebo
Jordan Carver
Mustafa Kahn
Anirudh Chandar
Rahul Gupta
Sixuan Liu
Adela Locsin
Charlotte Yu
Gustavo Lopez Mendoza
Gene Han
Blake Kem
Angela Keele

Project Summary

2022
Mass Timber Multi-family, North Carolina / Active
Mass Timber Factory, North Carolina / Active
Mass Timber House, North Carolina / Active
Edgewater Flat, New Jersey / Under Construction
Material Worlds Series, Ambasz Institute / Active
Rugby Road Duplex, New York / Active
Springy Banks Overbuild, New York / Active
Micro City, Colorado / Active

2021
Parkview Mountain House, Utah / Active
Missing Middle Housing, California / Active
Glen Rock House, New Jersey / Under Construction
Primrose Community Plan, Rhode Island / Feasibility Study
All Weather Garden, New York / Completed
Woods House, New Jersey / Feasibility Study
8 Stories, Linee Occult / Completed
Bar Cicchetti, New York / Feasibility Study
Darien House, Connecticut / Feasibility Study
C.C. Housing, California / Completed
Natural Numbers Houses, Invited Feature / Completed
Black Swan Espresso, New Jersey / Feasibility Study

2020
Nine Reciprocities, Invited Publication / Completed
Mission Rock / In Construction

2019
Solar Carve, New York / Completed
Immersive Housing, Invited Publication / Completed
WBYA? Exhibition / Completed
Megaflora, New York / Design Research
Engine Factory / Feasibility Study

2018
One Delisle / In Construction

2017
Hive Installation, Washington D.C. / Completed
West Village Loft, New York / Completed
Three Material Stories, Invited Publication / Completed

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