Tekuma is an incubator for future city innovation. At the intersection of culture, technology, and real estate, Tekuma uses design thinking to empower people to solve complex challenges for cities and improve the quality of life.
The origins of Tekuma began when Kun Qian MArch/MSRED ’16 and Marwan Aboudib MArch/MSRED ’16 were part of the same studio project during their first semester at the School of Architecture + Planning. As a way to showcase their project more broadly, Kun and Marwan began creating a series of pop-up galleries throughout the MIT campus. Over the years, Tekuma has re-positioned its business from wall art to making city — the largest art created by human beings.
With funding support from the Center for Art, Science & Technology and the Council for the Arts at MIT, Tekuma was able to expand its team and operations. In 2015, they were accepted into the MIT delta v accelerator and spent the summer getting ready to launch their innovation-driven startup into the real world. In 2017, Tekuma partnered with professor Dennis Frenchman and formed Tekuma Frenchman Urban Design LLC, which became an award-winning international city design office, with presence in Boston, Washington DC, Dubai, Chengdu, and Beijing.
