Today we’d like to introduce you to Dan Brunn.
Hi Dan, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in Israel, and moved to the states in the mid-80s. The transition to Los Angeles was part of my formative experience. I think seeing the contrast of my home town’s Bauhaus architecture and the eclectic collection of non-contextual architecture of Los Angeles sprung a nerve. I recall being about 10 years old and coming to the realization that I needed to turn lights on at 3pm because the house I was living in was just not attuned to its environment and context.
My home town of Tel Aviv is known as a Unesco World Heritage site due to its high proportion of Bauhaus and International Style architecture. Those are my roots.
LEGO bricks were also an integral part of my upbringing, and then I was fortunate enough that my high school had architecture classes. I took four years of architecture, engineering and descriptive geometry classes between freshman and senior years. I still see that the descriptive geometry class as vital, and allows me to visualize space.
All of those technical skills were honed in the five years I attended the USC School of Architecture. It was a grueling time, but also incredibly indispensable. At this point, I’d finally found my voice, and was excelling at something.
I interned every summer and worked for two years full-time. By the time I was 25, I had amassed years of experience through dedication. Harvard was always a destination for me. Somehow, through this dedication I made it. What a feeling.
Upon graduating, I had an “oh shit” moment. I realized it was time to face the unknown, with no path paved ahead. I also remember asking myself, “am I a good designer, or just great at making these elaborate presentations”. At school, we would have to always present our work to the public, in front of a jury, which can be quite the challenge.
At the age of 27, I started to teach at USC after teaching one semester at Harvard. As the story goes, it all evolved organically from there, from my first client to where we are at today, nearly two decades in.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The only thing that has been smooth is the assurance that the road is bumpy. Since this is a boutique studio, you just never really know what the next week, month or year will look like. The best part though, is my team. They are solid, and are there for me as an anchor. I rely on them to get DBA through, and they smoothen the road.
We had to content with COVID, and now the Los Angeles Fires. With every struggle, comes a novel solution.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Dan Brunn Architecture ?
I founded DBA as an architecture based design and branding studio. We really do it all. I played with the name, a tongue in cheek word play between: Doing Business As, Dan Brunn Architecture and Design Branding and Architecture. It became instantly recognizable before we even had a “brand” due to familiarity.
At first we were working mainly on residential projects, and now have a varied collection of clients and projects. We’re heavily invested in hospitality. I love this type of project because it is all about the experience, and we get a larger group of people experiencing our design versus a private residence. One of our assets is our multidisciplinary practice. We’re able to pull products and materials from one field to the next.
Our ethos is based on the human experience, and particularly what I have dubbed “empathetic design”. We use this mentally for all of projects, keenly attuning ourselves to our clients and brands, and layering the DBA design language on top of that. I say, that though our projects are recognizably DBA, they are each their own, and we love collaborating with our clients.
I am most proud of my team. Seeing how they’ve grown through the years, and their meaningful contribution to the brand. We had a presentation a few weeks ago that was lead by one of the project designers and led to the clients shedding some tears. We love that our projects are that emotionally positive.
I could go on about our international press and awards, but that is only the resultant of the work we’ve put in.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
First, I think it is important to understand that no one is perfect, and chances are you might need a slew of mentors. It’s rare and unrealistic to look for one person to be your beacon. Finding a few people to guide you is the way to go, and I found that forming mutual relationships leads to a more authentic relationship. I never looked for a mentor per se, it was more organic for me.
I would also stress that life events are so temporal, and someone else’s experience won’t be yours, and neither would their life path. Modeling someone else’s journey won’t necessarily be helpful, but aligning yourself to their morals, standards and ethics could bare more fruit.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.danbrunn.com
- Instagram: @dbrunn009 and @dbarchitecture
Image Credits
Brandon Shigeta
