Barbara Bestor, FAIA is the Principal and founder of Bestor Architecture. Her firm was established in 1995 and has a staff of 30 people. In recent years, she designed the internationally recognized Blackbirds, an innovative model for small lot housing, and a variety of custom residences and hospitality projects. The Floating Bungalow House in Venice, CA was featured in MOCA’s 2013 survey of contemporary LA architecture. In addition, she led the revitalization effort for John Lautner’s Silvertop, which received design awards from the LA Conservancy, DOCOMOMO and the AIA, and was featured in the Wall Street Journal Magazine.
Bestor’s award-winning studio is recognized for consistently pursuing experimental architecture that engages the city through design, art, and urbanism. She explores the architectural form through experiments in spatial arrangements, graphics, and color. Her varied and progressive body of work connects with people on many levels, often outside the boundaries traditionally delineated for architecture. She believes that good design creates an engaged urban life and embraces the ‘strange beauty’ that enhances everyday life experience.
Recent projects by Barbara include Ashes & Diamonds Winery in Napa, multiple offices for Snap in Los Angeles, and the Scandinavian Design and the US, 1890-1980 exhibit at LACMA. In addition, Barbara led the effort for the first extensive exhibit on the work of environmental designer Deborah Sussman. Barbara Bestor is the author of Bohemian Modern, Living in Silver Lake (Harper Collins, 2006), a book dedicated to the suppressed narrative of informal and eccentric modernism found in Silver Lake’s rich domestic architectural history. Barbara received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University and her Master of Architecture from SCI-Arc. She is the Executive Director of Woodbury University’s Julius Shulman Institute.