Life adapted to our material environment. Until the moment we discovered tools, technology and architecture. Then we acquired the power to adapt our material environment to life. You can look at the evolution of human history as a tale shaped by the materials we have known how to harvest and process. As evidenced in how we name the epochs of human history – the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, the Iron Age – our capacity to manipulate matter is perhaps the greatest force driving the development of our culture. By reclaiming the term materialism from the realm of empty consumerism, we aim to bring it back to the practice of formulating our future through form and matter. We will go on an odyssey through the material world through the works of BIG starting with solid rock and ending with the flow of electrons.
Marlon Blackwell, FAIA together with his partner in life and work, Ati Blackwell, AIA, ASID lead the internationally recognized practice Marlon Blackwell Architects. Their work has received recognition with significant publication and more than 200 design awards including the 2016 Cooper Hewitt National Design Award in Architecture and the 2025 Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize. Working between the universal language of architecture and the particulars of place, they have cultivated a studio recognized for its formal clarity, contextual depth, and architectural integrity.
David Godshall is principal at TERREMOTO, an award-winning California-based landscape architecture studio he started in 2012 with his late business partner Alain Peauroi. TERREMOTO has offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Against the Grain: The Organic Modernism of Herb Brownell - Free Self Guided Architectural Trail Map
Each month, Friends of Residential Treasures Los Angeles (FORT: LA) curates a new self-guided trail, inviting Angelenos to explore the city’s rich architectural heritage. These immersive experiences highlight significant homes, hidden gems, and the designers who have shaped Los Angeles' built environment.
