Barbara Bestor

Barbara Bestor is an American architect based in Los Angeles, California. She is the principal of Bestor Architecture, founded in 1992.^[1] Examples of her work include the Beats Electronics Headquarters in Culver City,^[2] the Nasty Gal Headquarters in downtown Los Angeles, Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea in Los Angeles,^[3] and the Toro Canyon House in Santa Barbara.^[4] She teaches architecture at Woodbury University in Burbank, California.

Biography

Early life

Barbara Bestor grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where her father was an anthropologist and her mother was a college administrator.^[1][5] She interned for Cambridge Seven Associates through college, with a study-abroad year at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, eventually graduating from Harvard University in 1987.^[1][5][6] She then received a Master's degree in Architecture from the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles in 1992.^[1][6][7]

Career

She began her architectural practice in Los Angeles in 1992.^[1] In her early career, she renovated many private residences in the Los Angeles area.^[1] She also designed the Actors' Gang theater in Hollywood with fellow architect Norman Millar.^[1] In 2001, she taught architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.^[1] She returned to Los Angeles a year later, in 2002.^[1] She has taught architecture at the University of California, Los Angeles.^[8]

She teaches at the Woodbury University School of Architecture in Burbank, California, where is the executive director of the Julius Shulman Institute.^[6][9] She was the founding Chair of the Graduate program.^[6][9] In 2014, with Catherine Gudis, Thomas Kracauer, and Shannon Starkey, she curated an exhibition about the environmental graphic designer Deborah Sussman at Woodbury.^[10] She has been a TEDx speaker.^[9]

She has designed private residences in Echo Park, Pacific Palisades, Mount Washington, Silverlake, Los Feliz, Topanga Canyon, and Santa Barbara.^{[1][8][11][12]} She has also designed stores and restaurants in Los Angeles, New York City, and Tokyo.^[1][8][13] In 2011, she was the recipient of the LA Restaurant Design Award from the American Institute of Architects for her design of the Pitfire Pizza in LA.^[7] She was also nominated for the James Beard Foundation Award for the same restaurant that year.^[7] The Floating Bungalow house in Venice, CA was featured in MOCA’s 2013 survey of contemporary Los Angeles architecture.^[14] In 2015, the Beats By Dre Headquarters was recognized with a National AIA Honor Award for Interior Architecture.^[15]

^[16]===Personal life=== She is married to Tom Stern (director) and has two daughters from a previous marriage. ^[17]

Bibliography

• Barbara Bestor. Bohemian Modern: Living in Silver Lake. New York City: HarperCollins. 2006. 272 pages.^[18]

External links

• Bestor Architecture

References