The devastating wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles in January have been met with an outpouring of charitable drives, profound soul searching about construction and climate change, and myriad ad hoc responses calculated to assuage the suffering of those who lost their homes while simultaneously planning for a smarter, more sustainable future. Among the most ambitious and daring of these responses is Case Study: Adapt (CSA), a newly launched project inspired by the legendary Case Study program that galvanized the world of architecture in the quest for efficient, experimental modern housing in the decades after World War II. With a wide-ranging mandate, CSA aims to explore and implement bold new ideas in housing by matching leading architects with clients looking to rebuild in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena, the two communities hardest hit by the conflagration.
CSA, a pending 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is the brainchild of Leo Seigal, founder and CEO of the interior design matchmaking consultancy The Expert, and entrepreneur Dustin Bramell, whose own LA midcentury house fell victim to the Palisades fire. Seigal and Bramell envisioned the program as an alternative to developer-driven, for-profit models. “When Dustin lost his young family’s home to the wildfires, I was inspired by his immediate and unwavering hopefulness in the face of tragedy. CSA is our way of turning loss into opportunity—rallying the best architects to create homes that don’t just withstand the challenges of today’s climate but redefine what thoughtful, resilient living can be,” Seigal says of the project’s mission. Bramell adds, “CSA is not only about rebuilding our homes—it’s also about restoring an optimistic view of how we live in the 21st century. The fire may have erased part of our past, but, like the city it swept through, it also pushes us to imagine what we’ll create next.”
Wasting no time, the cofounders have already enlisted ten of LA’s leading residential architecture firms and challenged each to design a distinctive house predicated on the principles of modesty in scale, energy and construction efficiency, and climate resiliency. The formidable roster includes Assembledge+, Bestor Architecture, EYRC Architects, Geoffrey von Oeyen Design, Johnston Marklee, Marmol Radziner, Montalba Architects, Standard Architecture|Design, Walker Workshop, and Woods + Dangaran.