ZAS Architects

ZAS Architects
Name	ZAS Architects
Industry	Architecture
Founded	1960s
Founder	Saul Zaslavsky
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California
Key people	Michael Zaslavsky, Laura Stern
Services	Architecture, Urban Design, Interior Design

ZAS Architects is a Los Angeles–based architectural firm known for residential, commercial, and cultural projects across Southern California and internationally. The firm gained prominence in the late 20th century through collaborations with developers, museums, and universities, contributing to debates in preservation and contemporary design. ZAS Architects' portfolio includes award-winning adaptive reuse, high-end housing, and public institutions.

History

Founded in the 1960s by Saul Zaslavsky, the firm emerged amid postwar development in Los Angeles, paralleling contemporaries such as Frank Gehry and firms like Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Early commissions included single-family residences in Bel Air and renovation work for clients associated with University of California, Los Angeles. In the 1980s and 1990s ZAS expanded into institutional projects for entities including the Getty Trust and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, aligning with preservation movements tied to the National Register of Historic Places and advocacy by groups such as the Preservation League of New York State. The firm's international reach grew with projects in Mexico City and collaborations referenced at events like the Venice Biennale of Architecture.

Throughout the 2000s, leadership transitions mirrored practices at firms like Richard Meier & Partners and Morphosis Architects, with Michael Zaslavsky assuming design leadership and Laura Stern overseeing operations. ZAS engaged with municipal processes in Santa Monica and West Hollywood and participated in academic partnerships with University of Southern California and Columbia University faculties. The firm weathered economic cycles such as the 2008 financial crisis by focusing on adaptive reuse and mixed-use developments.

Notable Projects

ZAS completed residential commissions in neighborhoods such as Brentwood and Venice, Los Angeles; commercial work in downtown Los Angeles near landmarks like Walt Disney Concert Hall; and cultural projects for institutions including the Getty Center satellite projects and community centers for the Los Angeles County park system. Major adaptive-reuse projects converted industrial warehouses in the Arts District, Los Angeles into mixed-use lofts reminiscent of initiatives by Adaptive Reuse Ordinance (Los Angeles). Educational projects included classroom and studio facilities for California Institute of the Arts and renovation work for satellite campuses of University of California, Irvine.

Internationally, ZAS completed a cultural center in Guadalajara and residential towers in collaboration with developers tied to projects in Mexico City and São Paulo. The firm also worked on hospitality projects near Santa Barbara and master-planning efforts adjacent to Port of Los Angeles developments. Several commissions intersected with preservation of Modernist residences comparable to restorations documented in Docomomo International publications.

Architectural Style and Philosophy

ZAS's design language synthesizes influences from Modernist architecture figures such as Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, and Le Corbusier, while engaging contemporaneous dialogues with practitioners like Tadao Ando and John Lautner. Their approach emphasizes material honesty, light modulation, and site-specific responses evident in projects that reference regional precedents including Southern California Mid-century modern residences. The firm has published essays critiquing big-box retail infill near Rodeo Drive and contributed design proposals addressing urban resilience advocated by organizations such as The Rockefeller Foundation and Urban Land Institute.

ZAS frequently collaborates with landscape designers educated at institutions like Harvard Graduate School of Design and engineers from firms that worked on projects for SOM and Buro Happold, integrating structural innovation with passive environmental strategies promoted by the American Institute of Architects’s sustainability initiatives.

Awards and Recognition

ZAS projects have been recognized by bodies including the American Institute of Architects Los Angeles Chapter, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and regional design juries associated with publications such as Architectural Digest and Architectural Record. Specific honors include AIA awards for adaptive reuse and residential design, citations from the Los Angeles Conservancy, and mentions in curatorial exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and the Getty Research Institute. The firm's principals have been invited to lecture at Columbia University and serve as jurors for the Pritzker Architecture Prize-related symposia and regional competitions administered by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Organizational Structure and Leadership

The firm's structure mirrors partnership models seen at practices like Kohn Pedersen Fox and Perkins and Will, with a board of principals overseeing design, finance, and operations. Michael Zaslavsky serves as head of design while Laura Stern manages business development and client relations, coordinating teams of project architects, technical directors, and design fellows who previously held positions at firms such as Gensler and NBBJ. ZAS maintains in-house capabilities for urban planning, interiors, and construction administration and engages consultants from specialist firms including ARUP and WSP for engineering and building performance modeling.

Publications and Media Coverage

Work by ZAS has been featured in periodicals like Architectural Record, Dezeen, Metropolis, and Dwell, and in monographs published by presses such as Rizzoli and Taschen. The firm’s projects have been included in documentary segments on KCET and in televised architecture series referencing episodes about Los Angeles design history alongside programs produced by PBS and BBC. Academic analyses of their adaptive reuse interventions appear in journals published by MIT Press and case studies taught in studios at University of California, Berkeley and Princeton University.

Category:Architecture firms based in Los Angeles