Collaborating with Los Angeles Architect Hagy Belzberg

With a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design under his belt, Hagy Belzberg returned to his hometown of Los Angeles to work for acclaimed architect Frank Gehry. After designing and building the Mataja Residence, a new mountaintop house in Malibu, Belzberg Architects was born and he hasn’t looked back since.

How would you define your work and style, and how do you like to work with clients?
We are very collaborative. It takes a lot to get in step with your clients and project team, but it makes such a difference when everyone’s on the same page. So we invest in the process and become very close with the people we work with. That is far more important to us than having a “signature style.”

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Why do you think clients seek you out?
As I mentioned, we are very focused on our clients and collaborators, so we get frequent referrals and repeat business. We work with great people, so it’s a real privilege to work with them across multiple projects. You end up building a lot of trust and can feed off each other.

Which project(s) are you most proud of and why?
The Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust was a very important project for LA, and to me personally. It was a big commitment of both time and energy from the very early days of the project. We were working with the client from the project’s inception, and there were a lot of moving parts every step of the way, including fundraising and dealing with all the city, county, and state regulations, as well as community groups. It was also a sort of breakthrough project for Belzberg Architects: we were able to put some big ideas into practice and give the community an educational conduit to an important part of history.

What unites your works?
We experiment. No matter what the project is, we’re always trying new things on different scales, so hopefully you haven’t seen what we do before.

Tell us about some of your recent projects and what you have coming up.
We’ve been working with a client in Mexico on a series of commercial projects in Mexico City. They’ve really allowed us to experiment. For example, Threads is a commercial building where we used aluminum fins that go from inside to outside to create a habitable façade. And we created a new standard concrete masonry unit block and structural system for the Apertures building in Mexico City, which is currently under construction. We’re also working on private residences in Atlanta, Toronto, Edmonton, Phoenix, and LA; several commercial projects; and a few mixed-use projects such as senior housing, a medical clinic, a school, temples, retail, and a community center in Venice Beach.

What are some of your favorite buildings by other architects, and why do you like them?
The TWA Terminal at New York’s JFK airport by Eero Saarinen is a favorite. It’s elegant and sophisticated, and truly a feat of architecture and engineering. It still seems futuristic today. And I’ve always loved the work of Oscar Niemeyer: complex and creative, but also minimal and beautiful. Those projects always seemed well balanced, but surprising.

If you could live anywhere, where would you choose and why?
My remote surf shack in Kauai, Hawaii. As a child, I wanted to be professional surfer.

Related: Explore Kauai, Hawaii: Nature’s Garden

Where do you like to eat out?
In the LA area, Duke’s Malibu, the Reel Inn, and République. The chef at République, Walter Manzke, is an old friend.

How important is a restaurant’s interior design or architecture to your dining experience?
It’s very important. It helps set the tone of the entire experience. It says something before you even start to eat. The lighting, the acoustics, the smells… It can really help heighten the senses, and it affects how you interact with other diners. It’s part of the narrative of the restaurant and the overall experience. That’s what we tried to achieve at Patina Restaurant at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

What does “home” mean to you?
Wherever my family is.

How would you describe your own home?
My home is a work in progress. I’m constantly inspired at work, which helps me see opportunities to improve things at home, so it changes from time to time. It’s my laboratory.

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What would be your dream commission?
Anything we haven’t done before.

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