One week into the new year and Los Angeles was on fire. The Palisades and Eaton wildfires had been raging for a full day when a new one broke out in the Hollywood Hills. From their four-level hillside home beneath the Hollywood sign, Nina and Andreas Grueter could see flames in the distance. They called the one person they thought could advise them how to save their dream home if the fire got closer — their architect, Yo-ichiro Hakomori, founder of the award-winning firm StudioHAU and professor of practice at the USC School of Architecture.
Over a decade in the making, the Grueters’ impressive Brutalist concrete residence had only recently been completed. It was featured along with the homeowners and Hakomori in a Dec. 12 Los Angeles Times story, “A stunning Brutalist concrete home in L.A. rivals its neighbor, the Hollywood sign.”
“I spoke to them that concrete is virtually fireproof, so you’re already at an advantage, but you have the wood decks,” Hakomori said. “That’s going to be your vulnerable area, where you have embers catching the wood decks on fire, and then it could burn the waterproof membrane and the insulation and that could then begin to get inside your house. So, I said, what you have to do is make sure that the wood decks are soaked.”
Fortunately for the Grueters, their residence was safe. Firefighters reached 100% containment of the Sunset fire within a day; but the Palisades and Eaton fires quickly became two of the most destructive in California history. Another home designed by Hakomori in the Palisades area was sadly lost, and the clients are already communicating with him about rebuilding. And this time, mitigating measures that would help save the house from a future fire are part of the conversation.
“I have to say, it never occurred to most architects that the threat of wildfires would impact residential areas in a significant way. We all know a bit about mitigating measures, but I think this will be a topic of greater concern building in areas of higher fire zones” said Hakomori, whose designs are all about connection with the natural environment, prioritizing environmentally responsible design and sustainability.