Follow this tag to curate your own personalized Activity Stream and email alerts.
While it remains to be seen what the rebuilding will look like, fire resilience is a big concern across the country, driven in part by climate change. So what would it take to make homes less likely to catch fire, including those built decades earlier? The answer kind of depends. — Marketplace
Wildfire policy analyst Kimiko Barrett expounds on the "complex, wicked crisis" facing homeowners and residential designers in afflicted states such as California. She was a member of the Biden Administration’s Federal Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission, a precursor to... View full entry
The devastating wildfires that gripped Los Angeles in the past week have prompted local architects to look to each other for ways to galvanize rebuilding efforts and muster their expertise in the interest of serving the public in whichever ways they can. Two of the organizers behind... View full entry
[As] the former head of the federal emergency management agency, Craig Fugate, has said: “A house that gets destroyed is not an affordable home.” It’s not a sustainable one either. The city needs greater urban density, not more firebelt bungalows. Ironically, it might be the inability of the insurance industry to pay up that finally forces LA to change. — The Guardian
Oliver Wainwright takes the adage "Build up, not out" as his clarion call for rebuilding Los Angeles County in the wake of the (still ongoing) urban wildfires that have also sidelined many other critics of its present urban stasis, which was not addressed at all in the directive Mayor Karen Bass... View full entry
A coalition of major arts organizations and philanthropists led by the J. Paul Getty Trust has established an emergency relief fund for artists and art workers who have lost residences, studios, and livelihoods or have otherwise been impacted by the latest major Los Angeles fires. The LA Arts... View full entry
Mayor Karen Bass has released a detailed plan for the rebuilding of key commercial and residential structures destroyed in last week’s devastating fires in Los Angeles County. The plan, which follows an earlier executive order signed by Governor Gavin Newsom that eliminated CEQA reviews and... View full entry
The fires, in their destructive rage, have highlighted the spectacular architectural legacy of Los Angeles — one that is often taken for granted, or even ignored. They remind us that the city has long been one of the world’s great laboratories for residential architecture, and that its best buildings are vaunted pieces of art, and equally vulnerable to the ravages of nature. — The New York Times
Writing for The New York Times, architectural journalist Sam Lubell laments the many “architectural gems” already consumed by raging fires in Los Angeles. Among those destroyed are the Will Rogers House (1926), which a colleague of Lubell previously described as “magical.” The fires have... View full entry
As sprawling fires continue to devastate Los Angeles, the latest reporting estimates that more than 12,000 structures (including houses, cars, and outbuildings) have been damaged or destroyed. Since the first fires erupted on January 7th, 2025, social media timelines have become saturated... View full entry
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order that includes two major stipulations aimed at rebuilding homes in Los Angeles County in the wake of the unprecedented fires that continue to damage homes and structures across the region. The order clears the way for expedited... View full entry
Architects looking to help in the disaster relief and civil response for the ongoing fire situation in Los Angeles County have been asked to contact local chapters/state disaster coordinators who actively are seeking to mobilize their expertise and structural knowledge to aid the public, state... View full entry
The dangerous fire situation unfolding on the ground across Los Angeles has captured the attention of Archinect as we try to keep on top of potential damage to homes, businesses, and historic structures in the Pacific Palisades, Altadena, and Pasadena, which is also our home. What... View full entry
In the heat of ongoing Malibu fires, Mike Davis' now classic essay originally published in LA Weekly, once more comes to mind. radicalurbantheory / update Related; 1 / 2 View full entry
