mattbaran.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

FAIR Plan insurance payouts of 914M, and overall payout total 6.9B to date. No break out for cleanup and other pre-cost. My understanding is Army Corp cleanup it will be covered regardless of insurance, and won’t ding rebuild payouts. If you have cleanup coverage, private is an option.

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

After 17 years I’ve updated my YouTube channel 😆 It was fun to reminisce about some of the old projects. There are animations from my days as a student at USC and Berkeley. You can check them out at the link in the comments if you’re curious. Meanwhile, my undergrad thesis ⬇️

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

Things that keep me up at night #784. Mashups.

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Do something every day that scares you! Yesterday I took public transit from LAX to Culver City. It took me approximately 2 hours to go 9 miles.

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

To make money, developers need to appeal to the desire of consumers who will buy their product, hopefully for more than they paid to build it. We look to ‘Most Advanced Yet Acceptable’ principles, not ‘style’ These low cost / high value add methods tend to set projects apart ⬇️

submitted 5 days ago • 1 comment

Words from Karen Bas that will almost certainly live in infamy. Clearing the way to “rebuild homes as they were” will certainly lead us to more of what we had. How about clearing the way to rebuild homes better than they were?

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment

SB-684 interior Ai rendering gradient. I used the Revit model and spent about 15 minutes in LookX last night. I would say that so far Ai is just letting us rapidly explore elements we just wouldn’t have had time for in the past. The work is getting better and faster.

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

Current view…

submitted 8 days ago • 1 comment

Things that keep me up at night #778. Verticies.

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

We knew that FAIR was going to need a bailout. It’s now officially getting $1B that needs to be paid by insurers, who can in turn pass on 50% to consumers. They need to absorb the other 50%, but are not being granted any rate increases by regulators.

submitted 10 days ago • 1 comment

One of the few posts I’ve seen on Bluesky today that didn’t make me want to click ‘see less like this’

submitted 11 days ago • 0 comments

We need to stop treating architecture as precious. Change is inevitable, and far more interesting than preserving something in amber for all of ‘eternity’. Sorry neighborhood character people, that means you too.

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

I was at the Los Angeles FEMA Disaster Recovery Center this week. There is one set up in West LA and another in Altadena. There was a lot of info on site clearing, permitting, and construction. The rebuild picture is getting clearer.

submitted 13 days ago • 1 comment

Yesterday I was at the UC Berkeley CED to speak to architecture and development students about how our projects adapt to design, code, and cost conditions (along with site, program and use). (A few of the projects I spoke about ⬇️. We were architect and developer on the first two).

submitted 14 days ago • 1 comment

LA County is now accepting permits for expedited ‘like for like’ rebuilds, which can happen concurrently with site clearing. However, you need to have your site cleared before starting construction.

submitted 15 days ago • 1 comment

A quick sketch from this week for an SB-684 project we’re working on

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

When you’re in a place where everyone agrees and there is no dissenting opinion present, how do you have a discussion about alternate views on a subject?

submitted 19 days ago • 0 comments

More constraints require more creativity. Architects like Bjarke Ingels aren’t accustomed to constraints. Tight budgets, small sites, and complex requirements require more thinking, not less. If you’ve always been given unlimited resources you don’t know how to swim in resource limited waters.

submitted 19 days ago • 0 comments

“But land-use regulation stops us from building a mass-produced home and requires instead a very idiosyncratic home. It means every project will be micromanaged. Every project will be small. Every project will be a bespoke build to satisfy five different requirements from the community.”

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

Welcome to Sunnyvale, where park fees are $107,811 per unit.

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

Yesterday I had the opportunity to sit with one of my first clients (and development partners) to discuss the impact of impact fees. If you missed the Space, check out the recording. (Link below.) I sort of botched the intro, so I thought I’d post one here to make up for it.

submitted 21 days ago • 1 comment

No more impact fees? Today in X Spaces I’ll hosting a discussion about eliminating impact fees from housing development. I’ll be joined Kathy Kuhner of Dogtown Development, and David D of Pacific Legal Foundation Both Kathy and Dave have fought impacts fees (in Oakland and Healdsburg) and won.

submitted 22 days ago • 0 comments

Jaden Smith, Baran Studio Edition:

submitted 22 days ago • 0 comments

Bluesky feels to me a lot like an arena where people compete for the trophy of most outraged.

submitted 26 days ago • 1 comment

LA is awesome because I can go walk all of the 'architecture for architects' whenever I want 🙂

submitted 26 days ago • 0 comments

Breaking: LA Mayor and City Council develop plan to expedite rebuilding by issuing pre-approved designs for units made of kindling, which is fast and easy to build from.

submitted 27 days ago • 1 comment

Meeting a client for lunch yesterday, I walked by Emerson College. Back when I was attending USC I watched a few small Morphosis get built, like Kate Mantilini and the facade of Hennessy and Ingalls. Who would have imagined this?

submitted 28 days ago • 0 comments

Great quote from LA County's Planning Director: "To say that we are antihousing is someone that’s not been paying attention" Actually, I do pay attention and that's how I know you're antihousing! LA has largest unsheltered homeless population in the developed world! www.latimes.com/california/s...

submitted 28 days ago • 10 comments