LUXE spotlights the Los Angeles design community’s post-wildfire revitalization, from a relief effort with national expansion plans to pros forging a new path forward.
“People underestimate that extra serotonin you get from living in a happy or clean space, even if it isn’t fully finished,” muses Adam Hunter. The L.A. designer’s belief underscores LA CAN DO (Los Angeles Creatives Aid in Natural Disasters Org)—a new nonprofit he founded to gather and distribute essential furnishings for families affected by the January wildfires. With 150,000 Angelenos displaced (including Hunter himself, above, standing in the remains of his Pacific Palisades residence) the need is undeniable. “We all need to sit and sleep on something,” he says. “This is about providing people with things that make them feel human.”
The initiative—originally collaborating with fellow designer Tamara Kaye-Honey’s similar “Soft Landing” project—is galvanizing the design community, both in L.A. and across the U.S. An initial donation of a half million dollars of furniture from Vesta Home legitimized the endeavor, Hunter recalls. It grew from there and now he aims to broaden it. “This organization will become New York CAN DO, New Orleans CAN DO, responding wherever there’s a need,” he says. Its success has also pushed Hunter to evolve his company into a design-build firm, with a goal of revitalizing the Palisades with intention. “Instead of modeling individual homes, I hope to model it block by block, working with top architects and landscape designers—so it won’t look like a development,” he describes, wanting to preserve the community’s architectural variations and envisioning a resource-sharing system to speed the process and mitigate costs. To learn more about LA CAN DO’s efforts, visit lacando.org.
3 L.A. Designers Reflect On Personal Loss
“I could write a novel about my Altadena house; I poured so much love into her. But I’m allowing myself to get excited about rebuilding. What designers do is more important than ever: We have the ability to help our clients recreate ‘home’: a place of safety, a place to heal—and that’s really important to me.”
- Alexandra Azat, Plaster & Patina
“My Pacific Palisades neighbors and I have banded together, not just to rebuild our houses, but to imagine a future that is more resilient and connected. Now, my focus is on furnishing temporary housing—creating comfortable, functional spaces for others affected as they move forward too.”
- Lisa Price Canale, Lisa Price Interiors
“Losing my home in the Palisades redefined my sense of purpose. Designers and architects play a critical role in guiding homeowners and communities through a process that extends beyond reconstruction. It’s vital to consider: How can we rebuild with greater foresight?”
- Chinmaya Misra, Chin Chin Design
For more information about how you can help the Los Angeles design community, please visit https://luxesource.com/article/los-angeles-wildfires-help-charities.