Reacting to Super Sketchy Architecture

As a prelude to our upcoming ‘Danger in Plain Sight’ Lookout video series about fire hazards in LA’s foothills, I critiqued an architecture video, shot in a very high fire hazard area of La Cañada Flintridge, NE of Downtown LA.

Summary

We discuss a luxury home in La Canada Flint Ridge, built by a husband/wife team of architects. The house, surrounded by dense vegetation, is at risk from wildfires due to its location in the intersection of two arroyos, surrounded with steep, difficult to maintain, overgrown flammable natural vegetation. Despite its aesthetic appeal and Japanese-inspired design, the architects appear to have made little consideration of the extreme wildfire fire hazards. Our critique underscores the need for architects to understand and address fire risks in their designs, especially in regions like Southern California.

The home is located on the tip of a peninsula with steep canyons on either side.

If a fire starts up-canyon of the home, the only way to evacuate will be to drive north up a narrow driveway, flanked with heavy vegetation, into the approaching fire.

Vegetation and topography around the home

Downcanyon/Santa Ana Winds will be funneled down the arroyos, and carry fire directly thru heavy vegetation on the upcanyon flanks of the house into the structure.

House Overview and Initial Impressions

Zeke Lunder introduces the video, saying that a critique of architecture’s role in creating fire hazards is a key theme in their new video series “Danger in Plain Sight” .
The house featured in the video is located in La Cañada Flintridge, northeast of Los Angeles, California.
Zeke provides context about the regional fire risk, mentioning the San Gabriel Mountains just to the north and the way which the canyons above can funnel Santa Ana winds.
The house is situated at the confluence of two steep arroyos, surrounded by heavy vegetation.
This house featured in the video is considered an architectural masterpiece, designed by Ray Kappe, founder of an architecture school.
Another one of Ray Kappe’s houses, in Pacific Palisades, was destroyed in the January ‘25 fires.

Fire Hazard Concerns

Zeke points out the proximity of La Cañada Flintridge to Altadena, and how the same winds which devastated Altadena in January 2025 during the Eaton Fire can surface in La Cañada,
Zeke expresses concerns about the extreme wildfire hazards around the house, comparing it to living surrounded by gas cans in a neighborhood full of arsonists.
Despite the architects’ artistic vision and adherence to architectural principles, Zeke believes this project was oblivious to the wildfire hazard.
The house is at the end of a cul-de-sac. The architects refer glowingly to the stunning views of ‘lush greenery’. Zeke says fire experts would describe the same view as ‘extreme fuel loading’.

Design and Architectural Vision

Zeke comments on the house’s design and unique and beautiful decorative contents, noting these will all be rubble after a fire.
The houses many windows are designed to frame natural scenes outside, which Zeke finds ironic given the fire hazard.
The architects discuss their inspiration from traditional Japanese houses called ryokans, which are used as an escape/refuge from city life.
Zeke highlights the contradiction between the house’s design as a refuge and its location in an extremely dangerous fire zone.
It is noted that anyone with wildfire literacy would not find the house to be a relaxing place.

Even though the home is built with stone and other non-flammable materials, the extreme radiant heat from the nearby burning vegetation will likely crack the large windows, allowing fire and embers to penetrate into the home, igniting the interior.

Much greater separation distance is needed between the glass and the adjacent wildfire fuels.

An image of the home, surrounded with highly flammable pine and live oak trees. Pine trees are especially flammable due to the amount of volatile organic compounds in their needles. The needles also fall and drape into the bushes below, creating a uniquely well-aerated and flammable configuration of fine fuels known as ‘needlecast brush’.

Material Choices and Landscape Challenges

One of the architects explains the use of hand chiseled cobblestone and the importance of materials that complement nature without overshadowing it.
The architects says that the biggest challenge of their renovation was the landscape, with much glass in the house, and the need to ensure every view is a form of art.
To work with the framing of each window as art, the architects have planted many new trees around the house, including highly flammable pines.
Zeke criticizes the architects for planting more trees, basically increasing the fuel loading of their lot.
The architects emphasize the time and energy invested in the renovation of the house.

Landscaping and architecture are intertwined in the SoCal psyche. We can’t imagine a beautiful/expensive home without a large amount of landscaping as part of the design.

Flawed Vision of Southern California Architecture

Zeke discusses the seamless integration of architecture and landscaping across Southern California, which he believes has proven to be a failure, from a wildfire hazard perspective.
He argues that what many consider to be beautiful landscapes often represent incredibly dangerous concentrations of wildfire fuels which are too close to the structures they are intended to beautify.
Zeke calls for a change in how architecture and urban design are perceived, emphasizing the need for architects to understand wildfire hazards.
He mentions the challenges of achieving fire safety in communities which were designed without consideration for access to maintain the vegetation directly adjacent to the homes.
When neighborhoods are designed without consideration for access to manage the vegetation, it can be nearly impossible to even get into the areas to thin trees, remove dead branches, or do other vegetation management work.

Final Thoughts and Series Promotion

Zeke concludes by criticizing the house’s location and design, calling it un-insurable and a flawed vision of architecture.
He promotes the new Lookout video series “Danger in Plain Sight,” which will explore wildfire hazards in Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Palisades, and Altadena.
The series aims to highlight the dangers of fire-prone landscapes and the need for better architectural and urban design practices.
Zeke reiterates the importance of understanding fire hazards and the need for architects to be aware of the risks when designing homes.