Projects by architects Ray Kappe and Martin Fenlon are among nearly 10,000 structures destroyed as deadly fires burn large swathes of Los Angeles in an “unprecedented, city-changing moment”.
Fires that started Tuesday in Los Angeles continued to burn through the past two days, causing the evacuation of as many as 180,000 people and the deaths of at least ten people across multiple fires.
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.”
Images circulating on X (formerly Twitter) show whole blocks in the Pacific Palisades completely destroyed.
New drone shot from Pacific Palisades shows entire blocks of homes literally burned to the ground. The Palisades Fire alone could become the “costliest” fire in U.S. history.
Courtesy of @KitKarzen pic.twitter.com/L5z7mvdLTt
— Nahel Belgherze (@WxNB_) January 8, 2025
According to news channel ABC, the Pacific Palisades fire is the most destructive fire in Los Angeles history, with LA fire chief Brent Pascua calling scenes there “apocalyptic”.
Local architecture studio AAHA Studio said that several of its clients had completely lost their homes in the Pacific Palisades.
“Scale of the damage is unfathomable”
“The community is very tight knit, and we are fortunate to call many of our clients and collaborators friends,” 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.
“My son’s elementary school burned down,” Rummerfield told Dezeen. “It’s all just a bit rattling.”
“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”
Yesterday a fire also began in the Hollywood Hills, putting much of the adjacent neighbourhoods at risk, but was contained.
While fires in Los Angeles are not uncommon, usually they occur during the summer and into the fall. But a particularly dry winter has exacerbated conditions.
“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”
For now, most people are concerned with the ongoing evacuation orders in the area and making sure people are safe.
“We are focused on being here now, supporting those who need help in any way we can,” Rebecca Rudolph of local architecture studio Design, Bitches told Dezeen.
“It’s too soon to think about what’s next other than that LA is resilient and filled with incredible creative, hard-working communities that we are lucky to be a part of.”
Fine told Dezeen that the architectural community could be “very helpful and instrumental” in helping people rebuild when the time comes.
“Many owners won’t even know where to start, even for those that have had minimal damage, but certainly many others have had total losses,” he said.
Currently, the fires are still being battled by thousands of firefighters across the region, with the federal government pledging to cover 100 per cent of the initial response costs for the fire.
As of Thursday night, both the Palisades and Eaton fires were less than 10 per cent contained.
CNN has shared a list of California hotels, with some offering special rates for evacuees and LA County continues to broadcast alerts through its emergency notification system.
CBS has outlined a number of places where people can offer support or donations to relief efforts.
