Michael J. Macaluso, AIA, FARA founder and principal of MJM+A Architects and the award winning design firm that bears his name, M.J. Macaluso & Associates Architects, is a licensed practitioner with more than 35 years of experience in the field of architecture and design.
From the commencement of his career, Michael has meticulously crafted his business to address the needs of a wide variety of clients, giving himself and his team fluidity and flexibility not common among competing firms.
Michael fosters a hands-on approach to his architecture, where the theoretical and the practical merge seamlessly in producing a finished product. Every member of the firm has extensive “in the field” experience, where getting mud and dust on your boots are a benefit for working for the firm.
Macaluso, a graduate of Pratt Institute in New York City, is a devoted student, university advisor and instructor in the fields of Architecture and Design. In addition to being an active member of the Board of Advisors for New York City College of Technology, Michael’s professional recognition as a force in the hospitality industry has led to his creation and instruction of an innovative Restaurant Design curriculum for the Parsons School of Design which is still utilized today. Through this eagerness to share and teach the practice of architecture with the voices of tomorrow, Michael maintains a cultural relevancy unique to his stature and experience that informs his professional work as well.
Having achieved specific success in the fields of hospitality, luxury multifamily residential design and preservation/restoration practices, the firm’s philosophy of exciting design informed by technical rigor has produced a varied body of work that continues to expand into new market places and work types. Throughout his career Michael has involved himself in the design and construction industry from the position of both the incubator and builder of dreams. This insight into the techniques, priorities and perspectives of the various personnel in a design project has been one of the most influential factors in the success of the firm and the value it provides its clients. These skills as a leader in the design world have been recognized by Michael’s peers in his appointment and election as President on both local and national levels to several architectural organizations, through which the firm has gained unique access to decision makers in both government leaders and stewards of business.
Macaluso continues to slide across the cutting edges of technology by constantly upgrading the process of project delivery and has help incorporate the constant upgrades to the firm’s information technology while insuring and insisting that all staff members can communicate with a pencil and a sketch as well as the computer generated image.
Michael believes that architects should deliver finished buildings….not just finished drawings. The team at MJM+A pushed by Michael’s love and enthusiasm of the built environment has created a firm envied for its sense of purpose and total commitment to excellence.