The year 1976 is the year of the discovery of Ebola, the death of Mao Tse-Tung, the Concorde's first commercial flight. America celebrates its bicentennial; Jimmy Carter defeats Gerald Ford for the presidency. The Summer Olympics take place in Montreal; Apple Computer Company forms, the Eagles release Hotel California, and Madeline Speer Associates is born!
Madeline opens the doors to her new firm in New York City with several key clients and, within a few short years, has partnered on her first job with Macy’s Department Stores, a relationship that lasts to today.
In the meantime, Stadium rock reigns. Rock’n’roll has completed its 20-year transformation from something seedy and frantic to something easy-going and safe. The release of ABBA’s s majestic “Dancing Queen” in August becomes the most significant single of the year.
With the new millennium, the company got multiple opportunities to grow. In 2003, Madeline Speer Associates became MSA planning + design consultants and ownership changes to John Pawek and Erin Bowes. Along with the change in ownership, diversification of business sectors, including Healthcare, Workplace, and Institutional, helped grow the business exponentially. In 2009, MSA opened a field office in Seattle to service clients in the Northwest.
In 2014, with business shifting to include complete architectural services, a name change was in order, and we became MSA architecture + design. And in 2016, the office moves to its current location in Oakland, CA. Forty-five years is a long time for a company to survive and stay relevant. We have done that by listening to our clients, attracting talented and knowledgeable staff, and maintaining long-lasting relationships with clients and consultants. We look back on many remarkable projects and look forward to assisting our clients in creating environments beyond expectations.
To celebrate this particular year, we have gathered the songs that best represent 1976 and which made history, similarly to us :) From ABBA to Queen and the Eagles, 1976 was indeed an epic year!
