We, as the Designer Interviews ("DI") had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to interview award-winning, most creative and innovative Matheus Diniz ("MD").
Matheus Diniz is an award-wining architect praised for his spatial sensibility and his drive to improve the urban fabric with his projects. He worked in internationally renowned architecture studios in Brazil, Switzerland and Iceland before founding in 2012 his own studio, MDAD, where he develops projects in several scales. His projects were featured in several publications and he was unanimously awarded with the grand prize for the 57th Annual Architects Awards of the Brazilian Institute of Architects – Rio de Janeiro. He was selected to present two of his projects in the 27th World Congress of Architects that took place in Rio de Janeiro in 2021.
Matheus Diniz Designs
We are pleased to share with you original and innovative design work by Matheus Diniz.
Matheus Diniz Design - Casa Una Community Center
Designer Interview of Matheus Diniz:
DI: Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
MD : I've wanted to be an architect for as long as I can remember. Even as a very young child, I was fascinated by buildings, art, and the way spaces made me feel. Over time, this early fascination evolved into a deeper curiosity about how people interact with their environments—how design can shape behavior, emotions, and memory. I pursued architecture as a way to blend creativity and critical thinking, and I’ve always seen design as a powerful tool to frame experience, spark emotion, and even question routines. Although I was always drawn to architecture, I’ve also explored art and design more broadly—through drawing, installations, and research—always with an interest in perception and spatial storytelling.
DI: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
MD : My studio, MDAD, was founded in 2012 as a space to explore how design influences perception, behavior, and memory. It grew out of research I conducted during my master’s degree, where I studied how spatial experience can shape people’s actions and emotions. At MDAD, we approach each project as a narrative — an opportunity to create spaces that are not only functional but also impactful and memorable. We work across different scales, from exhibitions and cultural spaces to commercial interiors and real estate pavilions, always with a focus on spatial storytelling and the user's point of view.
DI: What is "design" for you?
MD : For me, design is a way of shaping experiences. It’s not just about how something looks or functions, but how it makes people feel, behave, and remember. Design is a tool to question norms, reveal possibilities, and construct meaning through space, material, and form. In my work, I try to use design to tell stories — to create spaces that are emotionally resonant, culturally aware, and perceptually rich. Good design, for me, is not about imposing a style, but about creating a framework where people can live, think, and act differently.
DI: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
MD : I’m most drawn to projects where space can be used to frame a narrative or provoke a shift in perception. I especially enjoy designing cultural, ephemeral, or in-between spaces — places that invite exploration, ambiguity, or reflection. Temporary pavilions, exhibitions, and small-scale public interventions are particularly interesting to me because they allow for experimentation and direct engagement with users. That said, I also enjoy working on more permanent architecture when there’s room to explore how people inhabit, interpret, and remember the space over time.
DI: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
MD : Casa Una Uberlândia is my favorite project because it feels like an encapsulation of everything I’ve been exploring since architecture school. It brings together ideas about perception, spatial sequencing, and how architecture can shape experience — themes I’ve carried with me throughout my career. Its design even echoes one of the very first projects I created as a student. That personal connection, combined with the opportunity to apply years of reflection and experimentation, makes this work especially meaningful to me.
DI: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
MD : An experimental website for a book about the city of Belo Horizonte.
DI: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
MD : I don't have a favorite, I'll try to always use whatever makes the most sense for the project.
DI: When do you feel the most creative?
MD : I've never noticed any particular time.
DI: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
MD : I like to view designing as solving a puzzle, and that aspect is what most engages me, solving it in the most effective way.
DI: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?
MD : A miniature Verner Panton chair, an ipod, a side table by wentz, a foscarini planet pendant and a rug I designed myself.
DI: Can you describe a day in your life?
MD : I would rather not.
DI: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
MD : Leave your ego aside if you are designing for someone else. They are the focus.
DI: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
MD : The feeling of having your design built is a positive, the frustation with designs that stay in the drawing board is a negative.
DI: What is your "golden rule" in design?
MD : Be generous and accepting with your clients.
DI: What skills are most important for a designer?
MD : Understanding that design is not about you.
DI: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
MD : It always starts with a sketch, but mostly 3D modeling and BIM software.
DI: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
MD : I make do with the time that I have.
DI: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
MD : Most of the time it takes years.
DI: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
MD : Nothing comes to mind.
DI: What was your most important job experience?
MD : Casa Una Pelotas, by far. It helped establish my studio.
DI: Who are some of your clients?
MD : Idealiza Cidades, even and melnick.
DI: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
MD : Projects that have an impact on their surroundings.
DI: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
MD : I want to grow my studio.
DI: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
MD : It depends on the project, some have been as a team, others by myself.
DI: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
MD : Casa Una São José dos Campos, a bigger version of Casa Una Uberlândia made in pigmented concrete.
DI: How can people contact you?
MD : www.mdad.com.br