Projects by architects Ray Kappe, Martin Fenlon, and John G Wallis are among nearly 10,000 structures destroyed as deadly fires burn large swathes of Los Angeles in an “unprecedented, city-changing moment”.
Exacerbated by dry conditions and high winds, the fires have devastated the city, especially the northwestern neighbourhood of Pacific Palisades. Thousands of structures in the neighbourhood have been completely destroyed, including Keeler House by American architect and SCI-Arc founder Kappe.
Architectural preservation group the Los Angeles Conservancy said that it has been compiling data and fact-checking reports of destruction as the fire continues to move across the area.
“Not something we could have planned for”
“It’s a challenge, to say the least,” Los Angeles Conservancy president Adrian Fine told Dezeen last night. “We’re not able to get out into the field, in part because that’s not what needs to happen right now in terms of the still active fires.”
“So at this point, it’s being able to confirm with multiple sources, reliable sources, documentation,” added Fine, who indicated a list of historic and noteworthy buildings, which includes religious structures, restaurants, homes and more, that the Los Angeles Conservancy posted on its website. “This was not something that we could have planned for.”
“Scale of the damage is unfathomable”
AAHA Studio partners Harper Halprin and Aaron Leshtz told Dezeen, “Sadly, a number of our clients have suffered total losses, and our hearts break for them and for the entire community. The scale of the damage is unfathomable and still not entirely known. Our hearts are with everyone as they navigate the days and weeks ahead.”
As of last night, the Eames House (Case Study House No. 8) home of the Eames Foundation, and Case Study House No. 18, were confirmed to be intact according to the foundation. The famous Getty Villa and Museum was also undamaged.
In the city’s northeast, the Eaton Fire grew quickly and has caused extensive damage in the hill communities and in the towns of Altadena and Pasadena, including the destruction of Andrew McNally House and Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center.
Local architect Martin Fenlon said he was informed of the destruction of his Turner House in Altadena.
Local designer and founder of the Save Iconic Architecture Project (SIA) Jaime Rummerfield said the damage in the fires was “rattling”, noting that stores and schools of family and colleagues had burnt.
“Altadena has so much history, and they’re all gorgeous houses that people have loved for years,” she said, adding that her husband had driven through Altadena out of concern for evacuees, observing the damage.
“He just drove through the neighbourhoods, and they were just levelled,” she said. “He said it looked like Lahaina. It was devastated. There was just nothing, block after block after block.”
“A city-changing moment”
“This fire is unprecedented in Los Angeles,” conservation group Docomomo US board president Katie Horak told Dezeen.
“Of course, fires are a cyclical part of our lives here, but typically they can be managed or steered away from causing widespread destruction to urban areas and residential neighborhoods,” she continued. “I’ve lived in Los Angeles my whole life, including in areas prone to evacuations and fires, and this is unlike anything I have ever seen. This is a city-changing moment for us.”
“It’s too soon to think about what’s next.”
Click here to read the full article by Ben Dreith/ Courtesy of dezeen
