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Hagy Belzberg earned his master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1991, at one of the worst economic moments for architects in recent years. Luckily, he was able to get a job in Frank Gehry’s office. And yet a mere three months later—still unlicensed, still in the thick of economic uncertainty—he set out on his own.

He was not, however, jumping completely into the architectural abyss. He had won a competition to design a home for two artists. The clients were delighted with Belzberg’s design for an open living space beneath a second-floor studio area, and they awarded him the commission. He has been practicing on his own or with a partner ever since.

Several of Belzberg’s more recent designs reflect a great deal of construction knowledge, acquired while he was working on another early house commission. A client in Malibu commissioned Belzberg and his then-partner George Whitman to design a house, but the project ended up being much more than just a design commission. The client was so impressed by the pair’s abilities and enthusiasm that he asked them to serve as contractors for the house. "We sat there for two years, building this thing from the ground up," Belzberg says, "from cutting the roads to get to the house, to laying the utility lines, to cutting the pad, forming the concrete, laying the steel, framing it—really doing the whole thing."

Belzberg gained experience that he feels every architect should have and knowledge that informs his design thinking to this day. The experience, he says, "gives us a lot more confidence in pursuing concepts and ideas. We design within our capabilities, and we know where we can push and where we can take risks, instead of coming up with grandiose ideas and not being able to fulfill them."

He has put this knowledge to practical use in several of his later designs. The Los Angeles County Museum’s Plaza Cafe, for instance, had a very tight budget, and Belzberg knew that he would not be able to rebuild entire structures. Instead, he devised a system of Spandex "sails," which transformed the space and cost only about $3,000 to fabricate and hang.

The constraint was not money, but time, when chef Joachim Splichal commissioned Belzberg to renovate a 1950s apartment house that contained his Patina restaurant into a much more sophisticated establishment. Splichal did not want to close his restaurant for more than eight weeks, in which time the construction crew would have to build an almost entirely new building, including a new kitchen, within the skeleton of the old structure. Belzberg and his team spent a year designing and building prefabricated structures that could then be installed on the tight schedule. "Knowing how the contractor would stage all of the elements really helped us out," Belzberg says.

Like many young architects, he would like to tackle more institutional projects, but he is certainly happy with the work that has come his way so far. His office has just moved from Beverly Hills to a warehouse in Santa Monica, where he works with four junior designers and a dog, Nick. Is the dog licensed? "I can’t comment on that," Belzberg says, "for insurance purposes."

by Kevin Lerner