Photo courtesy of Mackey Mitchell Architects.
The Mackey Mitchell Architects office space in St. Louis.
For Mackey Mitchell Architects, the creation of a new website and branding concept was a call for celebration. After all, the firm’s hip, exposed-brick office space practically begs for at least one after-hour’s shindig. And while Mackey Mitchell is thrilled to unveil their new baby, they also wanted to utilize the buzz from the launch to bring awareness to The Alberti Program.
SLM talked to Tom Peterson, principal at Mackey Mitchell, to learn more about the program, which offers 4th-9th grade students from underserved schools the opportunity to learn creative and critical thinking skills, while developing communication expertise through group activities and presentations.
Why is there a need for a program like this in St. Louis?
The Alberti Program introduces students to creative thinking – identifying a problem and then going down the path of developing solutions to that problem. They also learn other skills in the class: they learn to cooperate with other students, to communicate their solutions, and use their hands to build models representing the solutions.
How did Mackey Mitchell get involved with The Alberti Program?
In the last year, Mackey Mitchell Architects became directly involved when I formally requested support for the program. Our firm commits to local communities and charities and we review these pledges annually. As more of our shareholders were exposed to this excellent program, our commitment grew. Now we want to spread the word to everyone we know!
Prior to that, my personal involvement for the last several years was due largely in part to my significant-other Susan Pruchnicki, an alumna of Washington University. She and I are renovating an old Southwestern Bell Telephone Exchange building into workshop and home living spaces. We often use the building and its renovation projects as a real life background for our presentations to the class.
Have you seen kids leave the program with aspirations to become architects?
Yes, in fact, an Alberti student who is now enrolled in the architecture program at Drury University in Springfield will be attending our event!
How can the general public help support the project?
Time, money, stuff… We are always looking for volunteers to either come to the classes and present, or host the kids on a tour or site visit. Financial support is always welcome, which is needed for instructor stipends, nutritious snacks and consumable supplies. And they also need material donations – anything from old cardstock company letterhead to glue sticks and paint. Their creative use of the most random objects makes very interesting models.
