MIG Begins
MIG was founded in play. Robin Moore, Daniel Iacofano and Susan Goltsman were working on masters degrees in Environmental Psychology when they realized they shared a passion about children and environments. They came to the San Francisco Bay Area and upended common thinking about design, play and children. It was the beginning of 30 years of pushing boundaries, breaking the mold and building the future.
Play for All
In 1982 Project PLAE (Play and Learning in Adaptable Environments) disrupted accepted thinking, showing how an ecologically diverse schoolyard—combined with nature-based play programming—positively affects a child’s lifelong behavior. PLAE inclusively brought children with and without disabilities into the same environment. We now infuse play into all our projects—because we all need to play.
Community Planning
Realizing that the same inclusive guidelines hold true for all built environments, MIG focused on community visioning, strategic planning, landscape architecture and urban planning and design. Our projects always involve the community—we engage and inspire people by telling stories in person, in print and online, presenting complex information through layers of color, imagery and type.
Human-Centered Environments
Creating user-friendly, human-centered environments is part science and part art. Our practice areas broadened into collaborative teams that intensely analyze existing conditions and the functional dynamics of social spaces. Creative built-environment solutions result in a “sense of place” that fosters social equity and environmental sustainability.
Streets as Places for Living
We used to grow up, play and hang out on streets—until they were dominated by cars and trucks. Our re:Streets collaboration, begun in 2010, focuses on planning, designing and constructing streets for living (and driving). It explores how streets can dynamically change and become true public spaces, providing real social and economic value to all our communities.
Applying Community Values
Reducing traffic deaths, conserving water, energy efficiency and recycling—these are big social movements and a natural extension for MIG from planning sustainable built environments. We focus on how people think about their place in the world, using an arsenal of digital and grassroots tools to create new social norms for sustainability, environmental justice and environmental stewardship.
Rounding out the Offering
Recognizing that our clients need to implement the plans and designs we create, MIG has become a fully multidisciplinary firm, adding biologists, scientists, environmental compliance experts and civil engineers to round out our services and ensure that our completed projects remain true to the original community vision.
Previous
Next
