Southern California’s unique architectural history has international reach, and many architects today, no matter where they live, feel a connection to our region because local figures like Charles Eames and John Lautner informed their educations and influenced their own careers. “There’s a willingness to explore here, and that’s been my design inspiration since I was a kid,” says architect Brent Martin, pointing to Frank Gehry’s deconstructivist Santa Monica home as a particularly perfect example of LA’s experimental attitude. The Mill Valley-based architect, who studied graphic design at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena before studying architecture at Yale University, where he met his firm partner, Marc Newman, believes that our progressive spirit can be a sustaining force in fire recovery efforts. “We have to think about rebuilding in Los Angeles creatively,” he says.
“There’s a pioneering spirit on the West Coast; a sense that people are up for the unknown,” adds Newman, a longtime New Yorker now based in Durham, North Carolina. The colleagues, who enjoyed successful careers before joining forces as Martin Newman Office (MNO) shortly after the pandemic (Martin with such firms as CO Architects and HOK; Newman as a longtime associate at SheltonMindel), hope to see the burn areas restored in a way that “evokes the history and charm that was lost,” explains Martin. “We can build great neighborhoods with variety and character, light and shadow and fire-resistant plantings.”
What concerns the duo, who oversee a small fleet of bicoastal offices as well as one in Belgium, is a rebuilding program that is prescriptively protective. “Each house having its own style is a hallmark of California neighborhoods; even if they were all built by an early developer, each had a distinct style: Spanish, Cape Cod, Shingle, Ranch and so on,” Martin continues. “That eclecticism will be difficult to replicate in a short time span of rebuilding, so we fear the loss of details as simple as relief in the façades—an element some might remove due to fear of ember storms, or that there won’t be the dappled light coming through bougainvillea-covered pergolas, or shade from trees close to the house. But there are ways to mitigate fire risk without disturbing the aesthetic we love and miss.”
If it sounds personal to Martin, it’s because it is. Before moving to the Bay Area, the architect, his wife, Rose and their children called Santa Monica home, and they spent last Christmas and New Year’s here—a trip celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary. (Rose, also an architect, had worked for Adamson Associates at their Pacific Palisades office on Sunset and PCH.) “We visited friends, Rose’s family and all our favorite haunts—we felt so at home again after a long time away,” he reflects. “And on our last day, January 3rd, we had breakfast at Kreation, visited the Getty Villa and took a trip through the Palisades to grab travel meals at Erewhon, with a final stop at Sugarfish before heading home. It was the most relaxed and wonderful day.” On the 7th, Martin was back in his office as friends began sharing photographs of their neighborhoods in flames. “It was horrifying,” he says. “And heart-wrenching not to be able to help beyond donating funds. And so many of the ArtCenter community lost their life's work in the Eaton Fire. For me, both communities have had meaning and connection for thirty years, and I’d like to be able to help rebuild them.” (In fact, the architect has offered his personal email, should readers want to connect: brent@mnoarchitecture.com.)
Martin and Newman are also quick with simple advice. “We recommend folks start with reviewing the resources provided by the American Institute of Architects’ California Chapter (aiacalifornia.org), and with their LA and Pasadena/Foothill local chapters,” says Newman. “The AIA PF chapter (aiapf.org) has launched a program called ‘Ask an Architect,’ where homeowners can schedule a free call with a volunteer architect to answer questions and go over the process.” The chapters also provide directories of architects and roadmaps to rebuilding.
“We believe in being responsive to context, history and the landscape, and that the whole project—interior and exterior—is a total work of art,” adds Martin, explaining that their firm also includes an interior design department. “We’re a collaboration of skilled architects, all working from home. We all have children, so working remotely makes for a happy, connected team, and we’re able to be anywhere on either coast in a matter of hours.” And with members on the ground in Los Angeles, they are eager to make a difference in the lives of those affected.
For more information on Martin Newman Office and their services, call 628-280-2259 or visit mnoarchitecture.com
“There’s a pioneering spirit on the West Coast; a sense that people are up for the unknown.”
“We believe in being responsive to context, history and the landscape, and that the whole project—interior and exterior—is a total work of art."