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In January, the world watched in horror as wildfires tore through Southern California neighborhoods, destroying more than 11,000 structures and killing at least 29 people. Many outside observers wondered whether anyone would want to return and rebuild in and around the affected Los Angeles areas; the early response is a resounding yes. Still, residents and architects must contend with the ongoing housing crisisand the housing insurance crisisin addition to the questions of how to adapt the built environment and landscape to withstand future wildfires and other potential catastrophes. AN surveyed nine top Los Angeles architecture firms to gain insight into how they are thinking about the current moment and how they plan to move forward. Their responses, edited for clarity and conciseness, are below.What are the immediate effects the fires have had on you and your practice?We have lost seven projects, one in construction, to the fires. Our immediate response was touching base with current and former clients in the affected areas. Within a couple days of the fires eruption, potential clients started reaching out to us. We were at a bit of a loss about what our response should be. The urgency that they felt was palpable, and our measured response turned at least one of them away.Alice Fung, principal, Fung + Blatt ArchitectsThe immediate effect for me and my practice has been that so many friends, extended family members, and employees have been directly affected by the traumatic losses of their homes and belongings. There is an aspect of this which feels very much like bombings during wartime.Barbara Bestor, principal, Bestor Architecture In the past, most of our architectural commissions have been underscored by excitement, extensively planned and entered into by choice. Now, for the first time in our careers, we are sitting down with families to navigate the aftermath of what has been for many of them the most tragic experience of their lives. This new prompt requires a deeply human sensitivity and an abundance of empathy.Peter Harper, founder + principal, Breland HarperA completed project by Fung + Blatt Architects before it burned in the Eaton Fire. (Courtesy Fung + Blatt Architects)A completed project by Fung + Blatt Architects after it burned in the Eaton Fire. (Courtesy Fung + Blatt Architects)We are engaged in ongoing conversations with academics (specifically at SCI-Arc), architects, and our clients regarding the more existential question of moving forward in creating gardens, which are, by nature, flammable. Through these conversations, research, and testing procedures, we are approaching fire not as a problem to be solved, but as a natural event that needs to be understood, analyzed, and treated with respect.David Godshall, TERREMOTOThe fires have highlighted a critical need to integrate environmental risk management into every facet of our work. Our practice has had to rapidly adapt to challenges such as hazardous waste removaldealing with an extended timeline due to contaminated debris and ensuring that cleanup processes meet stringent environmental standards. At the same time, were grappling with an unpredictable real estate market where property values are shifting rapidly due to perceived risks.Amanda Gunawan and Joel Wong, OWIU DesignView this post on InstagramA post shared by Practice (@practice.la_)The effects of the wildfires on my architectural practice have been profound. They have underscored the critical need for architects to take a proactive role in climate resilience, disaster recovery, and policy advocacy, reinforcing my commitment toward designing a more fire-adaptive future. My family lost our home, and half of our community, in the 2018 Woolsey fire. The events of January brought those same feelings back, along with a renewed focus and effort toward building a more equitable and resilient L.A.Greg Kochanowski, design principal, PracticeWill the fires and the destruction they caused change the way you approach projects or the way you design?There is a growing emphasisboth among architects and clientson fire-resistant materials and sustainable design. As an L.A.-based firm, we have generally prioritized sustainably sourced materials suited to coastal environments. However, its encouraging to see fire resilience becoming a more widespread priority. This shift will help ensure that future structures are not only environmentally conscious but also better equipped to withstand natural disasters.Aaron Leshtz and Harper Halprin, AAHA StudioThe scale of devastation has reinforced the urgent need for fire-adaptive, resilient, and sustainable architecture and has underscored the necessity of a paradigm shift in architectural practice. Fire resilience can no longer be an afterthoughtit must be embedded in every stage of design and planning. My commitment to safer, more adaptive, and climate-conscious solutions has never been stronger. A few specific points were focusing on are prioritizing fire-resistant and resilient design; strengthening building codes and advocacy for policy change; designing for climate adaptation and self-sufficiency; emphasizing community-oriented solutions; and enhancing education and research in resilient architecture.Greg KochanowskiView this post on InstagramA post shared by AAHA Studio (@aaha_studio)This rebuilding is an opportunity for devastated communities to reform themselves in a manner consistent with contemporary fire code, which was virtually nonexistent 20 or 30 years ago and was reflected in woefully unprepared structures. We find the greatest frontier to be the cultivation of fire-resistant gardens that are not the easy two-dimensional gravel and cacti variety, but rather the complex gardens that we associate with the beauty and romance of California domestic gardens. Trees are not in themselves a fire threat, and we look forward to continuing to prove that in our landscape work.Peter HarperThis is an evolving discussion within our firm. Fire resistive construction and best practices are standard for our design approach. Homeowners affected by the recent fires, particularly in the Palisades, have been actively asking us for additional measures such as roof and building sprinklers or concrete construction. Many of these measures are not well understood by homeowners and there has been a significant effort to educate homeowners about the options available within their prospective budgets.Jonathan Schnure, Studio Director, Marmol RadzinerIn Altadena, an ADU by Fung + Blatt Architects is the first application taken in by the County for the Eaton Fire Rebuild. (Courtesy Fung + Blatt )Were humbled by how much there is to learn about how to build differently. Thinking of fuel management in buildings and nontoxic materials and how to build simpler. The architecture community is feeling a collective calling to administer to a need, and that feels galvanizing. But the power that we wield as a collective feels small. We are only one part of the building equation. Our first response was to go on autopilot, to be helpful and productive with what we know to dowhich is advising, designing. Were also dealing with individuals whose lives have been upended. There is a lot of emotion, uncertainty, vulnerability. And depending on where one is in lifefamily structure, means, and resourcesone faces this catastrophic event differently. We have a direct role to play in the recovery, not just of places but of lives. How do we make the architecture process a healing one? That is an ever-present thought.Alice Fung With regard to my practice, it reinforces our commitment to do work of consequence. It is essential to help those who lost their homes to rebuild and to rebuild well. Thats both a personal and a professional viewpoint. Weve always prioritized the history and context of any site. After the Woolsey fires in 2018, my firm LOHA completed its first rebuild implementing wildfire resistant strategies, as thats become the unfortunate new norm of the region. We do already have significant experience navigating rebuilding after disaster, and we expect to see some changes to the process along the way, but were prepared to work with the county to rebuild quickly, effectively, and efficiently. Lorcan OHerlihy, Lorcan OHerlihy ArchitectsFire is a natural phenomenon that has always occurred and will continue to occur in Southern California. We disagree with the present discourse that mostly vilifies Coastal Sage Chaparral as an enemy to humans that now needs to be suppressed. Fire is a natural phenomenon whose frequency and intensity are increasing due to poor development standards, the proliferation of invasive species, and climate change. Generating a formidable and proper solution to wildfire will require solutions that address the totality of the contributing problems. That said, we believe that striking a balance between the needs and safety of the single family or multi-family dwelling and the greater ecological health of a neighborhood and region remains to be found, as the two ultimately depend on each other. We hope to seek this balance as we move forward designing within a climate changeimpacted future.David GodshallHow do you see rebuilding happening in the areas that were affected?The reality of rebuilding and rethinking our urban spaces in the wake of these fires is very much going to be a tale of two cities. The City of Los Angeles has a relatively progressive building department, plus some experience in managing and streamlining opportunities for rebuilding and code requirements that are more explicitly fire prevention oriented. Altadena, within the unincorporated county of Los Angeles, is in a somewhat politicized planning environment with very conservative building codes, huge parking requirements, and no current opportunities for medium density rebuilding or changing of the small-scale, single-family residences. We are finding that for properties in Altadena, the insurance and opportunities for funding are less ample and [we] are quite concerned that many more people will permanently lose their homes because of the fires in that area. Whereas in the Palisades, we see a lot of clients and others already jumping into new permits and rebuilding with gusto.Barbara BestorIt appears that many people want to stay and want to rebuild, which is crucial for the community. I believe it will take a combination of approaches and expertise. Wildfire-resistant concrete structures can be expensive, but there are other alternatives that are less costly. Well certainly see an increase in smart, fire-resistant landscaping design, which is one key way to limit the spread of fire and by limiting vulnerability to embers carried by wind. Infrastructure for fireproofing beyond the home will be critical. Theres certainly potential for a firewall between brush and neighborhoods, but it wont be enough on its own with the increase in wind speeds due to climate change.Lorcan OHerlihyPost-fire, landscapes also need to be regrown. (Grigory Heaton/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0)Our discussions with affected residents and fellow architects have revealed a shared commitment to preserving the architectural and cultural identity of these communities. Rather than opting for uniform, mass-produced rebuilds, there is a concerted effort to restore neighborhoods in a way that respects and honors their original character. The goal is not just to rebuild but to thoughtfully reinstate spaces that reflect the history and spirit of the people who call them home. Aaron Leshtz and Harper HalprinThe pace of rebuilding is going to be understandably fast, [but] is not always in agreement with the time that natural materials, such as soil and vegetation, need to heal themselves. For example, we disagree with the presently occurring carte-blanche removal of burned trees in the immediate aftermath of a fire as the ubiquitous solution to mitigate future risk. Certain native trees such as Quercus agrifolia have evolved to be fire resilient and, with time, to recover from burning. The unnecessary loss of urban tree canopy can lead to heat island effects that exacerbate future fire risk, contribute to habitat loss affecting endangered and at-risk species in the wildland urban interface, and reduce quality of life for individuals living in postburn areas.David GodshallWhat is your longer-term vision for how the L.A. region ought to move forward?We want to see these communities rebuilt. There has to be a robust collaboration between architects, private citizens, and the public sector addressing and designing for climate change. What we as architects are dealing with is larger and more profound than ever before. [We] can work closely with the city to mitigate these profoundly challenging times with regards to fire. There is a solution, and architects should take the position of being a strategist to work holistically.Lorcan OHerlihyView this post on InstagramA post shared by Barbara Bestor (@barbarabestor)The bigger issue of natural disastersif we look back at John McPhee, Mike Davis, and othersthere is certainly plenty of warning that these large national and state parks adjacent to residential areas are full of many kinds of dangers whether its mudslides, fires, or earthquakes. There is a bargain in living on the edges of the city. I hope increasing public transportation and city infrastructure will allow us to grow in population without forcing people with less money out further and further into less accessible places to live.Barbara BestorThe 2025 wildfires have exposed more than just the fragility of our built environmentthey have laid bare the deeper inequities embedded in our urban fabric. Rebuilding cannot be a return to what was, but a reimagining of what could be: a city that is not only fire-resilient but fundamentally more just. If we can get this right, Los Angeles can become more than just a city that survived its latest disasterit can become a global model for how fire-prone regions can adapt with intelligence, humility, and justice.Greg KochanowskiAs the effects of global warming unfold, the state and local jurisdictions need to change the entitlement and permitting process to help build more resilient buildings and infrastructure. The current process incentivizes property owners to retain existing structures over replacing them. Moreover, agencies need to develop clear strategies for how permitting recovery efforts will work to address future catastrophic event scenarios like wildfires and earthquakes.Andy Thompson, Senior Project Manager, Marmol Radziner From a landscape perspective, we believe that our short-term solutions as to how to begin to think about new landscape strategies for rebuild zones must include soil testing and remediation; a deep analysis of how and why the fires spread in the manner they did; and whether the landscape (both designed and non) was a primary contributing factor to the conflagration. Our long-term solutions should think deeply about plant layout in relationship to structures, the species we employ in our gardens, and how to enact detailed maintenance strategies for these newly emergent fire-safe landscaping approaches. We believe that we will have to contend with future fires of increasing scale and force in the wildland urban interface and proximate urban areas. We thus intend to support long-term solutions which leave space for emotional, spiritual, and psychological care within an environmentally indeterminate future.As such, a meaningful response to wildfires in the future will consider human resilience as in alignment with soil, vegetal, and structural resiliencies.David GodshallNew does not need to mean soullessdevoid of depth or complexity. Rebuilding in a manner that incorporates aspects of what was is not a form of denialdenial of the fires, denial of the passage of time. Sometimes it is an acknowledgement of value, of importance, and simply of love. This process is by no means meant to expunge variation or stifle unique perspectives, but rather to help define the basis on which personal art, variation, may populate itself. Within an outline, within a structure, beauty and complexity can flourish. Peter HarperView this post on InstagramA post shared by @rebuildlaarchitectureAdditionally, we asked Leshtz of AAHA Studio about the Slack workspace group, Rebuild LA Architecture, he started in January after his friend and fellow architect, Rachel Shillander, set up a Zoom call that attracted hundreds of industry professionals wanting to discuss the implications of the Eaton and Palisades fires. Here is Leshtzs response:The Slack group has been highly active and is nearly at 650 people. The ability to share information between professionals in an immediate and direct way has been invaluable to the rebuild processespecially as there is a lot of information, and misinformationthat is being distributed through other channels. Our studio, among others, recently completed a crowd-sourced rebuild handbook for homeowners, Rebuild LA Architecture, that originated out of a conversation in one of the Slack channels. Additionally, through the initiative of some of the members, a Q&A session with officials in LA County was also organized. While it can be a full-time task to keep up with the communication within the group, it has become a reliable resource for information for building professionals in the city.
