PROFILE
Fabrik: How did architecture first find you? Leo Marmol (LM): In high school, I visited the home of a friend whose father was an architect. Their house was nestled into a hillside in Marin County—it was beautifully crafted, with huge windows connecting you to the trees outside. I’d never seen anything like it. I became curious about architecture, and I started taking drawing classes and studying architecture in school. Fabrik: What do you do to relax? LM: Saltwater fly-fishing. I get on a boat with friends, go out to Catalina, and fish around the island with a fly. It’s quite an adventure. Fabrik: What is your relationship to nature, personally and professionally? LM: I don’t see a separation between “Nature” and our work. Our work lives within the environment, and our goal is to connect the interior experience with the natural rhythms surrounding the building. Fabrik: What would Los Angeles residents gain from more conscious urban development? LM: In our built environment, we are in many ways alienated from the rhythms and cycles of the planet around us. I think we all yearn for a reconnection to the natural world. Whatever we can do to facilitate that reconnection will make our urban experience more fulfilling. Fabrik: Can you speak to the necessity for density in Los Angeles? LM: Density is often perceived as something negative when it comes to the urban experience. I see it differently: density is what brings human beings into contact with each other. To live in a city is to live with other people. With that experience come some practical complications of living in close proximity, but also the deep cultural and spiritual benefits of living in a group. In Los Angeles, we have a great diversity of experience, a rich tapestry of opportunities made possible and amplified by a certain degree of density. When we fight to limit development, we limit our opportunities to make that experience affordable and accessible. »
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