Stuttgart, Germany – Behnisch Architekten is expanding its American footprint with a new office in Los Angeles, California, headed by partner Kristi Paulson. It is located in Silverlake, a creative district close to Hollywood and downtown L.A.
“California always seemed like a dream location for our office,” said Stefan Behnisch, Founder and Partner of Behnisch Architekten. “The positive atmosphere, the pleasant climate, and the central location on the west coast motivated us to open our very first branch office there in 1999. We’re extremely pleased to reopen this studio with Kristi Paulson and reclaim our presence in California,” said Stefan.
Previously, Paulson worked at Behnisch Architekten’s Venice, California outpost, which operated from 1999 to 2012 and produced projects such as the laboratory and research Park Street Building, New Haven; the Maximino Martinez Commons student housing complex in Berkeley; and the iconic City of Santa Monica Parking Structure.
Joining Paulson in Los Angeles are Tony Gonzalez, Daniel Poei, Vera Tian, Laura Fox, and Amin Abbaszadeh. They share the firm’s commitment to creating sustainable, humanist designs that are user-focused. The team is currently working on transforming a large office building in Southern California into a dynamic, contemporary working environment. The 100,000-square-foot building’s floor plates are carved out to bring in daylight and provide fluid vertical connections throughout the workplace.
Celebrating three decades of practice, Behnisch Architekten is proud to announce a retrospective of its work, 30 Years of Behnisch Architekten. The 1,768-page book features 66 built projects dating from 1996 through 2021, including several unrealized buildings.
The book traces the evolution of the internationally renowned, award-winning firm. Founded in 1989 as the “downtown branch” of Behnisch & Partner and initially led by Günter and Stefan Behnisch together with Manfred Sabatke, the firm adopted various names, settling on Behnisch Architekten in 2005. Today, in the four German and American studios located in Stuttgart, Boston, Munich, and Los Angeles, a total of around 130 colleagues from almost 20 different countries and various cultures work in close collaboration.
