MAD Featured In Sunset
We’re Featured In
Brewers Retreat sits on 80 acres, half Oak savanna grassland, half Coastal Forest. When purchased, the property was a vineyard operation for 5 years, after being a grazing farmstead for 175 years, after being the home of native Pomo tribes for thousands.
Our Clients requested indoor and outdoor living with effortless flow and the ability to enjoy the outdoors all four seasons regardless of weather. Most importantly, they asked for a house that creates minimal disturbance, and ‘sits light on the land and does not call attention to itself’.
Using traditional rural materials of rusted metal, concrete and darkened wood helps the home to blend and recede into the landscape
MAD Art
“Forthcoming” has a new landing Petaluma Art Center! MAD design-build set up and MAD lad Joseph Dooley-Lynch as lead designer and MAD dad Chris as lead detailer. Public welcome to visit the willow and CNC plywood dome.
Site Reconnaissance
MAD partners on a site reconnaissance. Sunset, moonrise, sunrise and fog dusting, bird flight paths, traffic noise, wind shelter and other site features are better understood in person.
Mary is AIA Redwood Empire President 2020!
I was asked to serve again and I will do so believing the Redwood Empire will continue to be a place for connection. I want to talk more about this, but first I wonder if you know the basic mission of the AIA. The mission reads “positive change through the power of design.” This ideal is enduring. It is what gets me to the office every day. Our work is based in optimism with many factors beyond our control, but in our power is showing up to do good honest work. In the words of Maya Angelou – Do the best you can and when you know better, do better. For example, just this year, the National AIA formally voted to “prioritize and support urgent climate action as a health safety and welfare issue” – a little late to the party, but an important win.
Thankfully you are willing to get involved in different roles bringing programs and new ideas to our community. Like Nate Bisbee and Danny Strening, who bring us inspiring architects to hear and see. And Don Tomasi, who reminded me that the Scholarship program is alive and well – handing out scholarships over the last 15 years to architecture majors. Mark Perry and Doug Hilberman have already provided input on engaging better with our retired and emerging architects. Jim Theis organizes the Leadership Academy for Associate members. Peter Levelle, created and brought us PSr1, a design competition for young architects to design and build a public art piece. There is a lot more to learn about our chapter and our members.
Over the last 3 years, the wildfires shifted the way we think about how we design, how we build, how we are housed, and where building a home makes sense. What I have witnessed is people working together to make life better for others. Julia Donaho jumped in to represent the AIA and re-envision a better Coffey Park. Aaron Jobson with Drew Weigl led a team of us to create Homes for Sonoma. I think we are on the right track when we see that we are more than the project on our table or screen.
15 years ago I served as president, with (2) 4-year olds, an 8 year old and a start up in Petaluma with my husband Chris called MAD architecture. Why would I want to come back in 2020? To help create positive change through the power of design, which I still believe in from my younger days at Cal Berkeley. To grow these connections with likeminded collaborators is a great way to spend your life.
In closing, I believe it’s all about connection through volunteering, collaborating, mentoring, and just showing up to tip back a glass together. Whether you are a sole practitioner or in a firm like QKA, being part of something a little bigger than your day to day starts with a simple invitation to connect – like Peter Levelle did with me.
And so I invite you all to connect with our new board twice as much as last year and help bring about positive change through your work. Now let’s raise a glass to Pete – a fantastic President – and thank our outgoing board members with a hardy Cheers!
Your 2020 President,
Mary Dooley
MAD architecture
Mary’s poem “Eternal”
Mary’s poem “Eternal” wins honorable mention and will be published in an international book titled Poems of a Modern Day Architect:
Awake too early again close eyes.
Churn the List in front of sunrise.
Label sensations Mind on Breath.
Thank cool belly where hands rest.
Grind and press organic brew.
Scroll Instagram count followers too.
Greet animals stroke and feed.
Salute the sun run the streets.
Check email, calendar, weather.
Stroll to work dog in tether.
Nod to in-house creative staff.
Shuffle stacks piled unable to draft.
Regard old friends curve triangle template.
Call in tight actions -it’s concrete pouring date!
Slip off uncomfortable stylish shoes.
Resume broadcast of daily dos.
I can still remember layers of yellow trace torn along the edge of the scale.
Rip! pierced the silence as each idea dissolved,
Black Prismacolor bubbles, tooling layer upon layer of hand musings.
This was the time when work filled my bones and breath as
Eraser shavings filled the scroll bar mounted to the bottom of the table –
The failings and evolutions of concept angst, ruts, slumps.
Salvation in Funk Soul Blues, a talk-walk alone, beloved coffee always coffee,
And most reliably just Stopping.
Congregate with co-workers prioritize tasks.
Grapple friction when words abrade the asked
Surrender magnetic grip of Chief Big Screen.
Bolt out late wrong jobsite shoes again.
Chuckle with guys wearing belted tools.
Annotate with button downs following rules..
Capitulate with guys who sign the checks.
Pursue the dream if the budget’s wrecked.
Flex as needed -errors omissions don’t lapse.
Reclaim first thoughts prevent collapse.
Hold the Vision, remember the job.
Shift. Let Go. Toggle and bob.
They used to think our drawings were bibles,
Perfect unchanging mandates from a holy author, all truths aligned,
But I say our plans guide us to the starting line.
Deeper Looking resulting in Betterment and so –
When sunrise spills on your back at coffee’s first sip,
When roof shapes shelter the inner court from coastal breezes,
When enclosure extols simple patterns of living,
When trees endure in their birthplace and underground courses flow unhindered,
When all elements remaining and brought here connect to Place,
Then I, beleaguered, gleaming, persistent, did a day’s work knowing
Design does not end.
Let’s plan your ADU
You may have a potential income property and not realize the laws have changed to make it easier to afford to build a second unit. On January 1, 2020, the new laws took effect for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) to help tackle the housing affordability crisis and incentivize the development of ADUs for homeowners. MAD has developed an effective personalized ADU package that sails through the approval process so your investment can get to work for you.
Work from Home
With so many of us working from home, adapting spaces to fit new needs may need more thought than a new desk. MAD has extensive experience in commercial and residential workplace design.