Excerpt from the Spring 2021 Alys Gazette

Joe Mracek and Brian Stackable sit next to each other on the screen. They laugh before the interview begins and say that this is the most interaction they've had in a long time. Their appearances might be a study in opposites. Joe is bald, wearing a black t-shirt revealing tattooed arms. Brian wears a white button-down, sleeves rolled up, glasses. Joe says he's before been confused as Brian's "muscle." They do not have beers together after work. Their back and forth is not seamless; there is no finishing of the other's sentences. Their partnership is not an obvious one. But it is indeed a partnership. One formed of a balance of strengths and an open-minded give and take. 

They share the same goal: a perfect composition. A design that fulfills the client's needs, their own creativity, the context of the building site. They need each other to make that happen. Their connection is so intuitive that much of their understanding of how they work together has not been articulated, does not need to be. As Brian said, "I didn't need a partner like me. Joe didn't need a partner like himself. There is a connectivity, hidden or not. The message is there." It clearly is. Their respect for each other's strengths and their allowances for their differences is the backbone of their success and a reflection of their values as architects and as human beings.

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