Lorenzo Quinn’s hand sculptures on The Arsenale in Venice – Biennale Architettura 2025: Intelligens. Natural. Artificial
Photo by: Jann Hawker

INFO

Collective minds

Designers, researchers, and makers working at the intersection of material innovation, modular architecture, and environmental engagement.
Our work is grounded in collaborative, iterative design, combining deep research with public participation to create systems that adapt to both human and planetary needs.

At the heart of our practice lie two interconnected projects: VIDA and SARA. Though developed for different contexts—urban and extraterrestrial—they share a common foundation: modular, geometry-based design inspired by natural systems.

PROJECTS
VIDA – Variable Instantly-Deployable Architecture
Reclaims urban plastic waste, transforming it into foldable building blocks for ephemeral, adaptable architecture.

SARA – Self-Actuating Robotic Architecture
SARA, in parallel, develops flexible, reconfigurable structures for extreme conditions, drawing from the same geometric intelligence. Supported by ESA BIC Czech Republic, we use SARA’s technological advances to feed VIDA’s prototyping and production.

Building with patterns

All KACADU projects emerge from a shared design language: optimization through modular geometry inspired by natural systems. Whether in orbit or on a sidewalk, we use foldable, tessellated structures—derived from origami and auxetic patterns—to generate maximum performance with minimal material.
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PROJECTS

From origami to orbit

A design system inspired by bionics, soft robotics, and origami engineering. Developed for space and adaptable to Earth, it redefines how we build in extreme or shifting environments.

SARA in a nutshell:

SARA’s modular surface systems use auxetic geometries and topologically interlocking components to fold, expand, and dynamically respond to external forces. These lightweight structures behave like muscle—flexible, compressible, and spatially efficient.

Funded and supported by ESA BIC Czech Republic, SARA advances through rapid prototyping, pushing the frontier of deployable space architecture while generating terrestrial applications like emergency shelters and adaptive climate façades.

Our aim is to commercialize two product lines: the SARA Kinetic Muscle Surface and the SARA Construction Kit, sold as constructional textile by square meter. We will also license digital blueprints for personal fabrication, bridging the physical and digital realms.

The project targets aerospace contractors, research institutions, and urban developers. It offers both propulsion and debris-management solutions for satellites, as well as resilient infrastructures for cities under pressure.

SARA is not just a system—it’s a design philosophy: one that embraces transformation, reuse, and the intelligence of geometry to reshape how we inhabit space—on Earth or beyond.

Urban design from waste

VIDA is a modular building system that uses foldable bricks made from recycled plastic to enable rapid, tool-free construction of urban structures—by anyone.
VIDA transforms plastic waste into architectural potential, offering a hands-on, low-barrier way to shape public space. It combines sustainability with participation: empowering citizens to become designers and builders of their own environments.

The VIDA system is open-source, scalable, and constantly evolving. Supported by a digital configurator, users can customize forms, explore layouts, and generate build-ready files—democratizing access to spatial design.

Piloted in Berlin, VIDA culminates in co-designed pavilions that bring communities together through shared creation. From street-level urbanism to long-term environmental impact, VIDA builds a new civic ecology from the ground up.

3D printed with PLA (Polylactic Acid)

REACH OUT TO US

OUR COLLECTIVE

KACADU is participating in the ESA Business Incubation Centre Czech Republic.

This project was implemented with financial support from the Technology Incubation program.

Adam Urban CEO, Architect [co-founder]
Czech Republic, Prague

Jann HawkerCreative Director, Designer [co-founder]
Portugal, based in Prague

Jan Urban
COO, Sales, Business Development
Czech Republic, Prague

Yasumasa Hayashi
External Partner, CEO of ArchTank
Japan, Yokohama

Don Anh-Tuan Nguyen
External Partner, Architect
Berlin, Germany