About the firm.

Established in 2019 in Cambridge, Massachusetts (U.S.A.), MCA has completed projects in Cambridge, Boston, Nairobi, and Dar es Salaam for institutional, religious, and commercial clients. Our founder, Mark Careaga, brings over 20 years’ experience working with colleges and universities, hospitals, churches, and private companies, with program types ranging from academic and medical education buildings to hospitals to campus master plans.

Prior to founding MCA, Mark was an Associate Principal at Payette. He was fortunate to spend the first 15 years of his career working closely with Tom Payette, whose mantra has always been, “Architecture is for people, not for the gratification of the architect!” Mark took this dictum to heart, and it has guided his practice ever since. As a grounding principle, “Architecture for People” is both client-facing and inward-looking, and it fundamentally humanizes the practice of architecture.

Architecture and design can be many things to different people. We believe architecture is an act of cultural production, rooted in landscapes, buildings, and the material realities of their construction. Design is the process and state of mind that produces architecture. It looks for organizing principles, seeks to establish coherence, and sets the parts in relationships with the whole. While rooted in construction, architecture transcends the physical dimensions and practical functionality of buildings. Architecture inspires people, embodies values, and endures over time.

“Architecture for People” also frames the way we operate and practice, and this matters as much as the quality of the designs we produce. We embrace the idea that architectural authorship, rather than being the purview of a singular genius, is fundamentally collective and collaborative, rooted in history and culture. Everyone, not least of all the client, is part of the process, and by instilling a sense of ownership and agency for everyone on the team, we plant the seeds for a flourishing and collaborative design culture that sustains the firm, builds relationships in the industry, and delivers value to our clients.

Our Clients.

We’ve been fortunate to work with remarkable people and organizations.

MCA on social media.

We maintain a Tumblr as a repository of projects and images that inspire us; it’s our visual journal. It also includes occasional informal posts about our work in progress, travel, and site visits. For more writing-intensive pieces, we invite you to visit Perspectives, our blog. Follow us on Twitter for announcements, news, and retweets of interesting stuff. For more and to stay connected, join our mailing list, and see our social links in the footer of this site.