Monthly Archives: February 2021

XTEN Architecture | How Swiss Roots Lead to Exceptional California Crafted Modern Architecture

February 25, 2021UncategorizedArchitecture, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, Outdoor Living, Ryan Bloom, Stefan Marchant, XTEN Architecture, Your Kitchen Outdoorsfiresidechat

This week on The Fireside Chat™ podcast, Ryan Bloom welcomes President and Founding Partner Monika Haefelfinger and Principal Scott Utterstrom of XTEN Architecture, an award-winning international architecture firm based in Los Angeles, California, and Sissach, Switzerland.

Born in Basel, Switzerland, Monika Haefelfinger’s interest in art and design deepened during an apprenticeship with her father’s architecture firm in Sissach. At the age of 21, Monika moved to the United States with the intention of spending a year there with her mother, a California native, and fell in love with California living. Following her studies at the University of Southern California and Columbia University, she worked for architectural firms in Switzerland and in the US. In 2000, XTEN Architecture was born in partnership with her partner and late husband Austin Kelly.

Scott Utterstrom was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, and graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in 2003. During this time, he spent a year abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark, and traveled throughout Europe to visit prominent architectural works. After working for the Los Angeles office of AGPS Architecture, he continued his studies at UCLA, before joining XTEN Architecture in 2007. He was named Principal in 2015, and has played a key role in the firm’s many award-winning projects.

In this dynamic conversation, Monika and Scott discuss the architect’s role in articulating their client’s vision, even in smaller spaces in densely populated urban areas, the commonality between Californian, European and Middle Eastern clients in their wish to create a comfortable and welcoming home for their families, where they seek inspiration, and how they bring the progressive and experimental spirit of Los Angeles into their projects.

This episode of The Fireside Chat™ podcast is hosted by Ryan Bloom, Co-Founder and President of Urban Bonfire. If you enjoyed it and love great design as much as we do, please subscribe. Follow us on Instagram @UrbanBonfire or join the conversation on Linked In. To find out more, please visit https://urbanbonfire.com.

XTEN Architecture – http://xtenarchitecture.com/

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Michael McGowan, KAA Design Group | The Dynamic and Ever-Changing Playing field of the Landscape Architect

February 18, 2021UncategorizedInterior Design, KAA Design, Michael McGowan, Outdoor Living, Ryan Bloom, Stefan Marchant, The Fireside Chat, Urban Bonfirefiresidechat

This week on The Fireside Chat™ podcast, we’re thrilled to welcome Michael McGowan, Landscape Architect and Associate of the KAA Design Group, a Los Angeles-based design studio dedicated to advancing the California lifestyle through contemporary architecture for over 30 years.

Michael McGowan joined KAA in 2011, and has been overseeing the design and implementation of a broad range of custom residential, commercial and institutional landscapes. In addition to his design work on numerous estate residential landscapes, some of Michael’s notable projects include: The Eastern Columbia Building, TreePeople Center for Community Forestry, Santa Monica Village and One Santa Fe.

In this conversation, Michael shares how his connection with nature started in his early childhood in Maryland, and how this informed his career choice many years later. He discusses the fundamental shift he is witnessing in client requests and trends as it relates to the outdoors, and how he articulates ideas into plans, and eventually creates ever-evolving outdoor spaces for his clients.

The Fireside Chat™ podcast is hosted by Ryan Bloom, Co-Founder and President of Urban Bonfire. If you enjoyed it and love great design as much as we do, please subscribe on Apple podcasts, Spotify or Google podcasts. Follow us on Instagram @UrbanBonfire or join the conversation on Linked In. To find out more, please visit https://urbanbonfire.com.

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Brian David Roberts | This Seattle-Based Functional Designer’s Unique Philosophy to Space Planning

February 11, 2021UncategorizedBrian David Roberts, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, Outdoor Living, Ryan Bloom, Stefan Marchant, The Fireside Chat, Your Kitchen Outdoorsfiresidechat

Brian David Roberts was determined to become an architect from the age of 12. But after a year of studying architecture at university he realized it was not what he thought it was. He transferred to the field of Industrial Design, specializing in Furniture and Product Design at Brigham Young University in Utah, where he was designing for use and creating products that, when utilized, delighted the end user.

A few years later, while working for a design firm on the east coast, a mentor introduced him to space planning, functional design and proper consulting… and this is where he found his true calling. Brian morphed his love of space and structure, which originally led him to architecture, into an unprecedented design process and philosophy that profoundly improves the lives of his clients within their homes.

In this episode of The Fireside Chat™ podcast, Brian shares his journey from architecture to space planning, and what it’s like to live, work and design in the Pacific Northwest with his life and business partner, Virginia. He discusses his wonderfully unique and inventive philosophy on space planning and functional design, and his approach to incorporating lighting into the homes he designs, both indoors and out. Finally, he elaborates on the kitchen as the modern family room, and what this entails for proper space planning.

The Fireside Chat™ podcast is hosted by Ryan Bloom, Co-Founder and President of Urban Bonfire. If you enjoyed it and love great design as much as we do, please subscribe. Follow us on Instagram @UrbanBonfire or join the conversation on Linked In. To find out more, please visit https://urbanbonfire.com.

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Stephen Francis Jones | Designing Social Spaces for Unforgettable Experiences

February 4, 2021UncategorizedArchitecture, Interior Design, Lucky Strike, Manhattan Beach, MB Post, Outdoor Living, Podcast, Stephen F Jones Architecture, Urban Bonfire, Wolfgang Puck, Your Kitchen Outdoorsfiresidechat

This week’s episode begins with a memorable evening in January 2012 at the M.B. Post restaurant in Manhattan Beach, California. From the inviting and familiar atmosphere of the former post office, to the food by Michelin-starred chef David LeFevre, to the playfully rustic decor… the experience was so meaningful to our host, Ryan Bloom, that he kept his menu as a souvenir of this evening. Fast-forward 9 years, and Ryan welcomes the architect behind this unforgettable space, Stephen Francis Jones, on The Fireside Chat™ podcast.

As in-house architect for the Wolfgang Puck Food Company, Stephen Francis Jones established one of Southern California’s most iconic brands. When he founded his own firm, SFJones Architects in 1996, Puck immediately hired Jones to help develop the fine dining experience at Spago Beverly Hills. This project led Jones to designing Wolfgang Puck restaurants worldwide—and, most recently, the renovation of the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland, site of the Academy Awards’ Governors Ball. Among his best-known projects is Lucky Strike Lanes in Hollywood. Working with CEO Steven Foster, Jones created a wildly popular hipster hybrid—restaurant, bar and bowling alley—that resulted in a flurry of spin-off projects.

In his conversation with Ryan Bloom, Stephen Francis Jones shares memories of his youth spent in Bogota, Columbia, and his travels through Europe before completing his Master’s degree in Architecture at UCLA. This immersion in urban European life shaped his fresh perspective on what makes a social space a memorable experience. Ryan and Stephen exchange on what it means to create inviting settings, and how restaurants are one of the great connectors of our world. Stephen ends with his thoughts on how Covid will shake out the restaurant industry for the better, transforming dining spaces into communal and outdoor spaces for authentic and meaningful experiences.

The Fireside Chat™ podcast is hosted by Ryan Bloom, Co-Founder and President of Urban Bonfire. If you enjoyed it and love great design as much as we do, please subscribe. Follow us on Instagram @UrbanBonfire or join the conversation on Linked In. To find out more, please visit https://urbanbonfire.com.

SFJones Architects – https://sfjones.com/
M.B. Post Project: https://sfjones.com/mb-post/bsg6cb2j978qm1x3zp86xx7rd0obbu

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