| Company type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Design |
| Headquarters | Manhattan, New York |
Key people | Markus Dochantschi, |
Number of employees | 18 |
| Website | studiomda |
studioMDA is a full-service design firm offering services from zoning analysis, programming through full technical documentation and project implementation with the mission of challenging the boundaries of design.
Our work includes a wide range of typologies including cultural, commercial, institutional, mixed use and both affordable and high-end residential projects.
Over the past 20 years, the studio has become the catalyst for the revitalization of two art districts in New York, designing and building over 30 galleries in Chelsea and Tribeca, where the office has emerged as the unofficial planner of New York City’s new arts district growing between Walker Street and White Street. [1] StudioMDA has emerged an authority on art spaces and other cultural buildings working extensively with renowned art collectors, artists, and gallerists like Marian Goodman Gallery, Alexander Gray Gallery and Karma Gallery, among many others.
The largest projects to date for the office are the 55,000 sqft Phillips Auction House Headquarters in New York City completed in 2021, the 80,000 sqft Center for Advanced Mobility in Aachen, Germany, completed in 2022, the new 35,000 sqft Marian Goodman Gallery in Tribeca, completed in the Fall of 2024, and a 100,000 sqft private contemporary art museum in Thailand starting construction in 2025.
The office has worked extensively in major historic districts in Manhattan and has worked closely with the Landmarks Preservation Commission to obtain approvals for a range of projects at different scales and complexities. With a sensitivity towards preservation and incorporating historic elements of each building to modern building techniques, the office has been able to add unique and notable characteristics to many galleries in Tribeca and Chelsea, highlighting their respective identities.
studioMDA has also worked with large developers and has performed zoning analysis for potential sites and projects across Manhattan. Working closely with Related Companies, the office has studied the second phase of Hudson Yards, west side lots in Chelsea and Midtown as well as areas of Brooklyn.
Within the art world, studioMDA has designed over 300 art fair booths at global art fairs like Art Basel, TEFAF and Frieze for Helly Nahmad Gallery, Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art, David Nolan Gallery and Nahmad Contemporary, among several others. Working closely with gallery clients to design their booths has added a very important scale to the portfolio of the office, providing a deeper understanding on circulation, lighting and the way art is viewed at its most optimal environment.
Before starting studioMDA, Markus Dochantschi ran the office of Zaha Hadid Architects for seven years and was Head Project Manager on the Rosenthal Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati. He has taught an Advanced Studio at Yale University with Zaha Hadid, Stefan Behnisch and Gerald Hines (2003), and an Advanced Studio at Columbia University’s Graduate School for Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) from 2008 until 2017. Dochantschi has also served as the director of the Global Cities Architecture Program (GCAP) at GSAPP. He has lectured at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design (GSD) and has been a guest critic at the Architectural Association, the Cooper Union, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, ETH Zurich, and the Hochschule für Angewandte Kunst in Vienna.
David Nolan Gallery, NY
Dirimart Gallery Istanbul
Helly Nahmad (New York art collector), NY
Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art
Van de Weghe, New York
Johyun Gallery, South Korea
Hammer Galleries, New York
Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, NY
Fine Sound Group
Gary Nader Art Center, New York