WE MAKE CITIES COOL ° - WE MAKE CITIES COOL ° - WE MAKE CITIES COOL ° - WE MAKE CITIES COOL ° - WE MAKE CITIES COOL ° - WE MAKE CITIES COOL ° - WE MAKE CITIES COOL ° - WE MAKE CITIES COOL ° - WE MAKE CITIES COOL ° - WE MAKE CITIES COOL ° - WE MAKE CITIES COOL ° - WE MAKE CITIES COOL ° - WE MAKE CITIES COOL ° - WE MAKE CITIES COOL ° - WE MAKE CITIES COOL ° -

Cities are being hit from all sides: extreme climate events, irregular migration flows, crumbling infrastructure, and fast changing commuting patterns. Cities are not adapting fast enough and yet they can have the biggest impact when it comes to tackling these global challenges.

OUR PRINCIPLES

Sustainability is in our DNA.

  • We believe in equitable infrastructure exclusively for all — the voices of minority groups are constantly informing our work.

  • Quick, nimble, and easy to implement. Our modular systems are designed to layer-onto or replace underutilized infrastructure. No foundations or site prep needed.

  • Our products are built to survive in some of the harshest urban environments. As operations people, we understand how important maintenance and repairs are.

  • We’ve developed a constellation of bike and scooter amenities. Living car-free can reduce our carbon footprint by up to 2 tons of CO2e per year for a single person.

  • Not-a-one-size-fits-all. All our products can be customized by color, material, configuration and accessories. We love working with communities to figure out the right solution for them (and eating cake while we’re at it).

  • We strive to incorporate as many green roofs with native plant species to help wildlife thrive in urban settings. Even a single tree or shrub can help boost biodiversity.

  • Our adaptive designs can plug into existing utilities or be powered by solar + battery systems. A suite of hardware / software features can be provided through the Oonee platform.

OUR STORY

The early days of placemaking.

Since 2008, FANTÁSTICA has evolved from an urban design and placemaking studio to a global street furniture brand focused on sustainability and smart infrastructure.

In the last 16 years we’ve worked with city agencies and public space operators in the development of turnkey solutions and modular prefab systems to help make streets better.

Today, together with our sister company Oonee we are helping cities achieve carbon neutrality by creating equitable smart infrastructure for all. We bring a wealth of knowledge working with municipalities, developers, and advocacy groups on every aspect of operations — from administration and public space management to marketing and programming.

OUR JOURNEY

From road blocks to building blocks.

2008

FIRST NYC DOT INTERIM PLAZA DESIGN

Pearl Street Triangle, DUMBO, BK
Client: DUMBO Business Improvement District / NYC DOT

2012

STREET SEATS STANDARD DESIGN

NYC DOT Street Seats Program
Client: NYC DOT Public Space Unit

2017

OONEE

Next Generation Secure Bike Parking for All
Client: Oonee
Special Thank You to NYC DOT

2020

FAST CASUAL

Outdoor Dinning Modular System for NYC
Clients: Times Square Alliance, The Flatiron NOMAD Partnership, The Downtown Alliance
Special Thank You to: TOTEM Brooklyn, Hollaender Manufacturing, Valtir

2024

DELIVERISTA STREET HUB

First-of-its-kind Mobility Hub
Client: Workers Justice Project (WJP) / Los Deliveristas Unidos (LDU)
Special Thank You to: NYC Parks, NYC Office of the Mayor, NYC DOT

OUR FOUNDER

The manman behind the brand.

J. Manuel Mansylla aka manman has been living in NYC since 2006. In his early years, he helped develop some of the first placemaking strategies that were used as economic development tools to revitalize neighborhoods like Dumbo and Downtown Brooklyn. Later on, he introduced the concept of low-cost modular parklets, and helped create the citywide Street Seats program in New York City. During this period, he pioneered the use of water filled barriers in street furniture, a design feature that has now been codified into the guidelines of the largest outdoor dining program in the United States.

He is also the cofounder of OONEE, leading the next generation of micro mobility infrastructure across the country; and working with Los Deliveristas Unidos in the creation of equitable infrastructure for delivery workers in NYC. Internationally, he is working as a CPTED expert helping reposition mayor cities in his home country of Guatemala as part of USAIDs Smart & Secure Cities Program.

OUR EXPERTS

People who know cities.

  • Cofounder + Head of Sustainability

    Jimena Leiva Roesch is a climate change specialist and advisor to some of the most vulnerable countries in the world. For more than a decade she has represented the voice of the developing world in multiple negotiations at the UN.

    She is currently the Director of Global Initiatives at the International Peace Institute (IPI) and works closely with IPI’s President, Zeid Ra’ad Hussein.

    From 2009 to 2015, Jimena was at the Permanent Mission of Guatemala to the UN, where she played a key role in crafting the global framework for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She was Guatemala’s lead negotiator for the Paris Agreement on climate change, and an active member of Guatemala’s Security Council team in 2012.

    Jimena is also an expert negotiator offering hands-on training on diplomacy and leadership in academic institutions around the world.

  • Head of Fabrication

    Rene Thibeault aka T-Bone has been bringing high quality projects and products to fruition for over 20 years. Museums all over North America have a touch of his skills for the preservation cases that keep our most valuable artifacts safe and secure including 9 Smithsonians in Washington DC.

    More recently, Rene has been concentrating his efforts and skills on urban projects for large municipalities, cities, and government agencies including the MTA, NYCDOT, LIRR, NJT and the MTQ (equivalent to DOT in the province of Quebec, Canada)

    Notable projects include Oonee’s new product line which includes the Oonee Pod; Elmont Station’s redevelopment project where he managed the fabrication of the station’s canopies which span several hundred feet in length; and the refurbishment of 43 wall displays at the historically renowned Grand Central Terminal in New York City.

  • Head of partnerships

    Nick Peterson is a planner with 15 years of diverse experience in placemaking, community participation, context-sensitive solutions, Olympic Games planning, open-space planning, and capital-project coordination.

    In his capacity as a Senior Project Manager and then Co-Director in New York City Department of Transportation’s (NYC DOT) Public Space Unit, Nick launched and managed New York City’s revolutionary CityBench program. He also wrote, edited, and published the Street Design Manual; expanded Weekend Walks, NYC DOT’s street “opening” program, from nine to 31 sites, and Street Seats, New York’s parklet program, from three to 10 locations.

    Before joining NYC DOT, Nick was Vice President at Alex Garvin & Associates; Capital Programs Manager for Times Square Alliance; the Transportation Planner for NYC2012, New York’s bid for the 2012 Olympic Games; and a Project Manager at Project for Public Spaces.

OUR TEAM

BIG design from a little know place.

Since time immemorial Guatemala has been know for its biodiversity and local folklore. More recently however, the country is being recognized for its relentless entrepreneurship and overflow of creative talent. Every aspect of our entire product line - for both FANTÁSTICA and our sister company Oonee - involves the expertise and sensibility of our team of Guatemalan designers.

From product development, to graphic design, placemaking and now app development and IOT, there’s seems to be no limit to what this country can do and we are committed to sharing this story with the rest of the world.

OUR PARTNERS