Morphosis

Morphosis Architects is an interdisciplinary architectural and design practice based in Los Angeles and New York City.

The firm was informally founded in 1972 by Michael Brickler, Thom Mayne, Livio Santini and James Stafford. Michael Rotondi joined the practice in 1975 and remained a principal until 1991. Writing in 1989, Boston Globe architecture critic Robert Campbell called Morphosis "one of the country's most interesting" architecture firms, and described its very physical, materials-focused design style as "look[ing] as if it might hurt you."

Born in Connecticut, Thom Mayne (b. 1944) studied architecture at the University of Southern California and Harvard Graduate School of Design. He was a founding member of the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in 1972, and has held faculty positions at the Southern California Institute of Architecture, California Polytechnic State University, Pomona, and the University of California, Los Angeles. Mayne was the recipient of the Pritzker Prize in Architecture in 2005.

Michael Rotondi (b. 1949) was also a founding member of SCI-Arc in 1972. He became the director of the school in 1987, and held that position until 1997. Rotondi's career awards include the 2009 AIA/LA Gold Medal and the 2014 Richard J. Neutra Medal from Cal Poly Pomona College of Environmental Design.

Landmark works by the firm include the Lawrence Residence, 1981-1984, in Hermosa Beach, California. The home has been described as "two stylistically different structures that collide at a slight angle on their narrow lot...".

Mayne and Rotondi received numerous awards for their work in Morphosis, including 11 American Institute of Architects awards and 12 from Progressive Architecture. In 1992, the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters awarded them the Academy-Institute Award in Architecture.

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