Mackey Mitchell Architects is honored to announce Carlos Cepeda Gómez as the first recipient of the Eugene J. Mackey III Travel Scholarship. The Scholarship was established by MMA leadership to enable deserving students of architecture, particularly those who might not otherwise have the opportunity, to pursue their passions and expand their knowledge through travel.

In 1958 our firm’s founder, Gene Mackey, had just completed his sophomore year of college majoring in English, when he was invited to join his father, Eugene J. Mackey Jr., a renowned mid-century architect and teacher, on a formative six-week summer tour through Europe. At the outset, Gene’s father declared there would be no photography, only sketching. Young Gene was profoundly inspired by all he saw on this journey, watching his dad sketch and exchanging thoughtful observations over dinners that capped each day’s adventures. At the end of this trip, Gene decided to make a big change. He then transferred to the School of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis.  

 “For six weeks, we traveled by car through the Netherlands, France and Italy … I will always be grateful for this special trip and its inspiration for me in my life. I am always curious, learning all the time, continually sketching to better understand and appreciate the world around us and what it can become.” 

-Eugene J. Mackey III travel journal entry, 1958 

 Throughout his distinguished career, Gene was an avid traveler who documented his experiences through sketching and watercolor painting as a way of deepening his understanding of the built environment. From iconic college campuses to famous historic landmarks, each of these documented memories helped shape Gene as a person and an architect. MMA’s President, Steve Emer, observed, “For Gene, sketching was first and foremost, a way for him to learn more about design and architecture, which he never stopped doing. Some of his sketches are notational. Others are evocative, capturing – with an economy of lines – those aspects of the subject he found to be most inspirational. As a viewer of Gene’s drawings, I often find myself immersed in the spirit of that time and place and will occasionally hear his voice in my head describe the finer points of what he was seeing.”  

Eugene J. Mackey, III, original sketch of Pont Neuf

A recent graduate from Washington University in St. Louis with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture and a minor in Urban Design, Carlos Cepeda Gómez was accepted to an extraordinary two-month YACademy Vernacular Architecture program at the Italian Embassy in Cairo, which our scholarship will help support.  

Like Gene, Carlos understands the value of observation in architectural education. “There is a quality of understanding space when sketching and drawing … making digital drawings today has made many of us – me included – lose a lot of the rich understanding of the spatial qualities around us,” Carlos explained. 

Carlos Cepeda Gómez original sketche

In addition to his many awards and recognitions, Carlos earned a 2023 Steedman Student Summer Research Grant that focused on the impacts of the Venezuelan mass migration crisis in the settlements of Colombia that included analysis, research, interviews, and case studies. Carlos considers this experience as invaluable in further developing his approach to architecture that respects cultural heritage while addressing contemporary challenges like climate change and social justice. 

 Carlos also recently completed a significant research project for the Steedman Fellowship, one of the oldest and most prestigious awards in the United States granted biannually to an emerging architect to support 6-12 months of international travel for architectural research. In preparation for the fellowship’s upcoming centennial celebration, Carlos collected a wealth of data, images, and documents from multiple sources about the fellows, from the program’s founding to recent awardees, establishing a catalog and system for current and future researchers to organize relevant materials. “Carlos was able to accomplish a remarkable amount of detailed, organized research, with little guidance and a very short time period,” shares Sue Pruchnicki, FAIA, who worked closely with Carlos on the project. “His immersive approach is particularly relevant to this upcoming learning opportunity. The only way to study vernacular architecture is to see it in person,” she explained. “To have that opportunity along with experts in that field of research is unmatchable.” 

 From Carlos’s efforts on the Steedman centennial project, he knew Gene Mackey was a 1966 Steedman Fellowship recipient. Carlos appreciates the historical significance of the Steedman Fellowship in advancing innovative design talent and was clearly inspired by learning about all the past fellows. Looking ahead, he is excited about how his experiences in the YACademy Vernacular Architecture program will continue to fuel his passion for community-centric, sustainable, and culturally responsive architecture. These aspirations honor Gene Mackey’s legacy.  

Carlos Cepeda Gómez, Travel Scholarship Recipient & Steve Emer, MMA President

The Eugene J. Mackey III Travel Scholarship’s impact goes beyond just financial support for Carlos. It validates his approach to architecture that is rooted in empathy and cultural understanding – echoing Gene Mackey’s view that architects have a civic responsibility to help improve communities. “Receiving this travel scholarship represents a perfect embodiment of the practice and philosophy my family taught me and that I have honed over my last four years in St. Louis – that community is at the core of everything we are and that we are stronger together,” Carlos shared. This alignment of values represents the impact that the scholarship aims to have in nurturing the next generation of socially conscious and globally aware architects. 

We are honored to support his journey as he explores the world to enrich his development. Congratulations, Carlos! And we look forward to learning about your discoveries.