Studio Location: Echo Park / Los Angeles

Email Address: rs@robertstonedesign.com

Licensed Architect and General Building Contractor – numbers upon request

Biography-

Robert Stone was born and raised in Palm Springs, California – where modernism went to sell out, retire, and die. He worked as a building contractor through college and earned first a Bachelors, then a Master of Arts in Architecture from UC Berkeley. He found more interest in the contemporary art ideas of the time and wrote a master thesis proposing an alternate path forward for architecture that wouldn’t retreat to digital abstraction, but instead would move forward analogous to the continually divergent paths of contemporary art using representational and figurative approaches, poetry, and conceptual content unthinkable in the abstract architecture of the time.  His early career was spent running very large and complex architecture projects in Los Angeles as a unusually intensive “day job” while developing an art practice with gallery and museum exhibits in LA and NYC and Europe. This artwork led back to architecture, when he found he had fully developed work that addressed the primary issues of architecture, but was entirely unique to the field . . . And then, rather than recoil from the circumscribed state of architecture that had no place for his work, he decided it was time to demand a wider definition of architecture with new ideas and aesthetics. The rest is future history.

Studio-

There is some writing that suggests that Robert works “more like an artist” than the typical architecture firm. He insists that this is just architecture as it should be practiced. But it is true in the sense that the studio is set up for experimentation and inspiration rather than presenting like a graphic design firm, or playing a caricatured role of “the architect”. However, achieving such individual and refined aesthetics as an end result is only possible with extraordinary knowledge and experience in the practice of architecture and construction, and the highest standards of management and project documentation. No role playing necessary. Robert has never accepted the limits that put architects out of direct engagement with,  and responsibility for, their own work and has them relying on others to know and understand the materials and methods of construction, scheduling and budgeting. His goal is to push architecture farther than it has ever gone, and every practical and mundane step along the way is important to achieving that inspired goal.

Projects-

The intent is to produce a series of iconic houses- each with its own aesthetics, ideas, and meaning.  These houses typically write their own rules and multiply their own value, but the production process is based in fundamentals. Robert no longer does the work of a general contractor, but he is able to collaborate with contractors as equals- which changes everything about the construction process. He typically will jump in and fabricate a detail, light fixture, or structural piece when warranted by complexity, convenience, budget or artistic expression. Robert has also found interest in select non-residential projects over the years- a large resort, an office block, or retail store, when the project, site and client are right and he has something truly special to offer.

Please contact for a simple introduction or to discuss a project.