“The company has two directions; the first is a conventional, client-facing architecture practice, and the other is more of an investigation into futuristic solutions,” says Stephanie ‘Nina’ Chaltiel Reed, Co-Founder of Barcelona- and Paris-based MuDD Architects.

MuDD works primarily in the marriage between local inspiration, natural materials, and innovative technologies, Nina says. “We aim to revive the existing rather than trying to rebuild from scratch. Refurbishments, even on large-scale façades, are of particular interest. We try not to be prejudiced about material selection. While using as many natural materials as possible - wood, stone, earth - we are open to exploring the area for other local materials in what we call a zero-kilometre strategy. We also try to green façades wherever possible and provide sufficient outdoor spaces, a need that sounds very simple but one that has been highlighted by lockdowns in recent years.”

Nina is especially interested in natural inputs that are used in new or unexpected ways. “One material we like to work with is prefabricated earth blocks that, when put in place, look monolithic. We are also specialists in wood construction with a contemporary twist, particularly in France, where there’s a certain taste for it. But rather than traditional dark wooden beams, we’ll have high volumes or large openings that are painted white. This is a common trend in our projects; it’s both aesthetically attractive and practically beneficial because it can be prefabricated to a certain level, offering faster construction on site.”

This style of building is especially suitable for refurbishments where a wooden skeleton is installed on top of an existing structure, Nina says. “These penthouse-style additions are a really exciting space for us, and their wooden construction enables us to build lightly on top of other buildings. We have a very dynamic client we’re currently working with on a project of this type in Paris that is currently in the visuals stage and preparing for construction.”

Perhaps the technique that MuDD is best known for is its use of drone-spray technology (covered in depth in Nina’s previous Teulo Pod and Teulo Talks sessions), where drones are used to spray materials, including clay, lime and sand, to construct façades and insulation at extremely high speeds. “One of the projects that will showcase this is our Boulevard Barbes project in Carcasson, a refurbishment and change-of-occupation design that we have been working on for the last couple of years. It is a Medieval, five-story building - soon to become six - where we will transform the existing structure while also telling the history of what MuDD has been working on in the intersection of architecture and technology.

“The drone spraying to refurbish the facade will take place next month; both we and the client find it quite ironic to use this new technology in such a historical area. It’s a very acrobatic and delicate process that we have worked on closely with heritage architects, who are examining fine detail like the size of the grain, the shape of the window frames, and the colour and tone of the construction. We’re also using a new technique at Boulevard Barbes with precut, metal exoskeletons. The whole project has been an exciting challenge for us.”

The MuDD team is also experimenting with using their drones in combination with a new 3D-knitting technology. “For a while, we’ve been using 3D knitting to create bespoke shapes and structural elements without the need for cutting and restitching,” Nina says. “We don’t have this in use in any commercial projects yet, but we can see the potential for it to create really interesting shapes and mortar second skins on existing façades, as well as vertical gardens, shading devices, and ornamental features. Like a lot of what we do, the technique is actually pretty simple, just with a futurist application.”

Nina’s love of earth architecture dates back to her student days, when she was able to see it employed first-hand in Mexico. “I got the opportunity to see and understand the whole earth construction process and any difficulties it involved. The company I worked for aimed to teach local people to build their own houses to the maximum quality possible, updating them from the low-quality materials that had been used historically, like corrugated metal. The idea is that earth is available everywhere, and earth architecture has nice properties such as warmth, texture and temperature neutrality.”

From there, Nina began to combine her love of natural materials and traditional building methods with cutting-edge technologies. “I ran a summer school called Mud and Digital Lab that experimented with combining these laborious traditional building tasks with new technologies. Both earth architecture and digital technology are very playful, in a way. With earth architecture, it’s like playing with clay; there’s nothing toxic, and the material is nice to handle. With digital fabrication, there’s a range of shape and orientation that can be really exciting to experiment with.”

As Nina’s fascinations have evolved over her career, so too has her focus. “Back when I was teaching, I was very much interested in the experimental combinations of old and new, natural and technological, and transmitting those ideas to students so they could use them in real-life projects. Since founding MuDD in 2019, I’ve found that I’m much more client-focused. I realised that a lot of the challenges we thought were the main challenges were not the right ones for real clients. They have so many ideas and aspects, including economical, that need to be respected and understood. I find that part of the work really interesting now: filtering their ideas and reinventing projects at every stage to meet their needs.”

Along with her penthouse project in the design phase in Paris and the heritage project nearing completion in Carcasson, Nina is excited to see Vaux en Bugey House reach completion near Lyon. This 120m2 residential project consists of an open-plan living room, kitchen, two bedrooms, bathroom, garage, and mini pool, and it showcases MuDD’s work with prefabricated wood construction. “Design-wise, that project is quite interesting. The geometry of the wooden beams is all visible from the inside, creating an origami effect, with an exterior that features a Japanese burnt wood finish. It is also being built on a challenging, sloped site in a very traditional village, which meant that we had to work a lot with the local authorities to get it approved. They thought that our initial design was too modern and luxurious for the area. The end result has been a compromise: we covered the exterior stilts, which were quite airy and light, with wood cladding.”

Looking ahead, Nina hopes to push the MuDD project scale at both ends, with larger commercial projects as well as interior design. “We have some lodges and glamping projects underway, and I’d like to push further into that hotel and hospitality space. We also have really beautiful design objects in the MuDD store, including children’s play houses and vinyl furniture, that I’d like to see more of in the market. We haven’t had the capacity to really prioritise and sell that work, and this is something that I’d like to promote better. For now, I’m looking forward to having a number of projects reach completion this year, ready to be showcased. Photographing completed work is something I always look forward to, and I can’t wait to share these projects with the world.”

To learn more and connect with Nina, visit https://www.muddarchitects.com/en, follow on LinkedIn and Instagram, pick up a copy of Houses that Can Save the World, and keep an eye out for upcoming collaborations right here on Teulo.