The Think Lab

Think big.
Test small.

The Think Lab is where we explore the concepts, frameworks, and provocations that shape our work behind the scenes — a space for questioning assumptions, testing bold ideas, and sharing the theories that inform our practice.

Notice something → Ask “what if?” → Draw it out → Put it on the street

Every experiment here starts as a hunch about how places could work better — then gets sketched, argued over, and published. The best ones graduate into real projects.

Experiment 01 · Toolkit

MTV: Mall to Village

“How do you convert a shopping mall into a village?”

You stop treating it like a shopping destination and start treating it like a community. The MTV Toolkit visualizes how to transform a “sea of asphalt” into a thriving, incremental neighborhood — swapping big boxes for daily rituals, breaking the superblock into buildable pieces, and letting the market finish what the village starts.

  1. Swap big boxes for daily rituals
  2. Stabilize the core
  3. Break it down & replat
  4. Build the perimeter “wonderwall”
  5. Build zones of participation
  6. Let it go
Explore the MTV Toolkit →

Experiment 02 · Provocation

PlayWays

“What if our streets invited us to linger, explore, and connect?”

Inspired by Mexico City's hidden interior trails — the camellones of Avenida Ámsterdam and Paseo de la Reforma — PlayWays are tree-lined promenades in the middle of the street that connect parks, encourage play, and bring life back to underused medians. Think the High Line, but at street level instead of twenty feet above it.

And they don't need big infrastructure money. A PlayWay can be built incrementally, one block at a time:

  1. Repaint the lanes
  2. Set the barriers
  3. Roll out the green
  4. Add seats & shade
  5. Link the loop
Walk the PlayWay →

Why we publish the hunches

Our cities face an urgent need to rethink commercial land use — advocating for smaller-scale, flexible, and context-sensitive typologies that integrate with residential neighborhoods and support local entrepreneurship. From adaptive reuse strategies to zoning reform and incremental development, this work reflects our firm's broader belief: good planning liberates potential, fosters economic resilience, and builds places people love.

Great places don't happen by accident — they are co-created. Whether it's a single lot or a neighborhood master plan, we help you make place happen.

See the Work → Let's Talk →

How can we build together?

Great places don’t happen by accident — they are co-created. Proformus bridges the gap between policy, design, and the built environment. Whether it's a single lot or a neighborhood master plan, we help you make place happen. Let’s talk. →