Community Is in Architect’s Design

When Ronald A. Altoon becomes president of the 57,000-member American Institute of Architects in December, the Los Angeles architect wants the profession to build community relations as well as eye-catching structures.

Altoon, 52, says architects have been trained to balance conflicting demands and issues. They have also developed diverse skills and talents--from creating artistic designs to solving engineering problems and raising money--that can be called upon to deal with complex community and civic problems.

Demanding school and work schedules “have caused architects to be internally focused,” said Altoon, founding partner of Altoon & Porter Architects. “It seems to me that [our professional skills can] have a greater application in the community by helping society establish a vision for its future and implement that vision.”

Altoon has never been one to focus only on professional pursuits. As an architecture student at USC, he founded the USC Friends of Gamble House, which has helped restore the rambling Craftsman Gamble mansion in Pasadena. Altoon lived in the house as a scholar in residence, conducting historic research and tours as well as daily maintenance.

In the late 1980s, Altoon organized and led an American Institute of Architects team to help rebuild the earthquake-ravaged cities of what was then Soviet Armenia.

“You don’t get paid for it, but you grow measurably from your experiences,” Altoon said.

Of course, Altoon has had to find time for his own practice, which was recently in the spotlight for its restoration and renovation of the Art Deco landmark Bullocks Wilshire department store into a library for the Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles.

During much of the decade, Altoon and architects in Southern California had to find ways to survive the economic slowdown and real estate bust that drastically reduced demand for their services.

Altoon and his 50-person staff expanded aggressively in foreign markets, particularly Asia, where the firm now has offices in Singapore and Hong Kong. While business in Southern California dried up, Altoon’s firm designed a 7.7-million-square-foot commercial and residential project in Indonesia.

That foreign work has better prepared the firm to deal with the real estate developments that are once again rising in Southern California, Altoon said. Architects have the chance to play a role in avoiding the overbuilding that marked the 1980s and promote projects that rejuvenate central cities and commercial streets and preserve historic structures, he said.

Working overseas “caused us to look at the way other places have damaged their cities and to reflect on ways we can make ours better,” Altoon said.