Michael K. Chen of MKCA | Building Aboard the World's Largest Residential Yacht
Photo Credit: Alan Tansey
Luxury Vacation Home, With a Nautical Twist
When architect Michael Chen, principal of MKCA, got a call about designing a 600-square foot apartment, the project brief was straightforward enough: renovate a 2-bedroom summer vacation home with multifunctional furniture. However, this wasn’t East Hampton or Miami Beach. In fact, there wasn’t an address at allーthe apartment floats on a luxury residential yacht that spends 365 days a year at sea.
Michael discovered that designing for constant motion meant rethinking everything he knew about residential architecture. Bronze dining tables now required a piston system to fold safely into walls. Murphy beds replaced traditional frames to optimize space and showcase ocean views. Every material choice had to account for salt spray, UV exposure, and oxidation.
Working with Austrian shipbuilders, Michael and his team developed prefabrication techniques that compressed a typical two-year renovation timeline into brief month-long dry dock periods. The results merge modernist design principles with maritime engineering requirements, creating spaces that feel both grounded and dream-like.
Our conversation reveals Michael’s approach to craft as something that encompasses community engagement, sustainability, and social responsibility. He shares insights from teaching architecture thesis studios, the evolution of MKCA’s practice philosophy, and the founding of Design Advocatesーa nonprofit that has participated in over 100 projects serving the public good over the past five years.
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“Our approach to materials is never exclusively visual and it’s never exclusively performance-driven. It is about accessing that narrative quality that materials have, but also thinking about the narratives that are embedded in them.”
Photo Credit: Max Burkhalter
About Michael K. Chen
Michael K. Chen is an architect and principal of MKCA, based in New York City.
His practice is widely recognized for buildings, interiors, and objects that embrace material expression, that elegantly choreograph space, and that embody innovative and thoughtful approaches to craft. Through a process that is considered, collaborative, and inclusive, MKCA is invested in linking the material and social worlds, based on the belief that design creates impact through its participants, materials, and making.
Michael and MKCA’s growing body of work regularly appears in international exhibitions and media including Architectural Digest, Elle Décor, Domus, Dwell, Interior Design, Architectural Record, Wallpaper*, The Daily Mail, The New York Times, and T: The New York Times Style Magazine, and it has been recognized with numerous awards for design excellence, research, contributions to the design disciplines, and for social good.
In March of 2020, Michael co-founded Design Advocates, a network of independent architecture and design firms collaborating on projects and initiatives that promote equality in the built environment. Design Advocates has grown to encompass 250 firms and volunteers who have completed over 100 projects serving communities and the public good.
Photo Credit: Alan Tansey
Photo Credit: Alan Tansey
Episode Timestamps
(07:48) Teaching thesis studios and the dozen student projects that shaped MKCA's approach
(15:58) The client request that led to designing aboard MS The World
(18:53) Construction challenges at sea and developing prefabrication solutions with Austrian partners
(21:42) Engineering elegant and multifunctional furniture for life in constant motion
(33:55) Material choices that embrace patina and the fingerprint of global travel
(40:29) Navigating maritime building codes and the importance of expert collaborators
(44:31) Design Advocates and the mission to promote equality in the built environment
Connect with Michael K. Chen:
Courtesy of MKCA
About your host:
Atif Qadir is a licensed architect and entrepreneur, interested in solving big problems through innovation and technology. He has founded two proptech companies and a real estate development firm, building products ranging from software to workforce housing.
His work has been covered by Technology Review, The Real Deal, Commercial Observer, and Propmodo. He’s also a frequent speaker on the future of buildings and cities on popular industry podcasts and at conferences, including this past year at the Commercial Observer National DEI Conference, Yale AREA Conference, Columbia Real Estate Symposium, Open Data Week NYC and Austin Design Week.
About Michael Graves
The world-famous design firm Michael Graves is also a founding sponsor of American Building. Its namesake, the iconoclastic designer Michael Graves, FAIA was a fierce advocate for people-centric design. His work defines a generation of American architecture and includes the Portland Building, the Humana Building and the Denver Public Library. The 1st season of American Building was filmed live at The Warehouse, his historic home in Princeton, New Jersey:
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