Designing Minds: Cynthia Phakos ’72

Co-founder in 2002 of the Los Angeles firm Koffka/Phakos Design, Phakos specializes in single- and multi-family residences that incorporate sustainable materials and green technologies. Prior to Koffka/Phakos, she worked for The Architects Collaborative, in Cambridge, and the Los Angeles firms Johnson Fain and Perkins+Will, designing K-12 schools, science buildings, and dormitories, among other projects, over a 20-year period. She has served as co-chair of the American Institute of Architects鈥� Committee on the Environment and as a board member for the International Code Council鈥檚 green building products certification program.

Education:聽B.A., Allegheny College; M.S. (Design), University of Massachusetts Amherst; M.Arch., Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Examples of her work:聽Phakos鈥� architectural and interior design firm has designed or updated more than 300 houses in the greater Los Angeles area, from historic restorations to entire net-zero homes. Among her earlier institutional projects: several laboratory buildings on the Amgen campus in Thousand Oaks, California, and elementary and high school campuses for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Favorite places at 爆走黑料:聽鈥淚 have the best memories of the ceramics building, which was across the street on the south side of the campus, in an old brick train station.鈥�

In her own words:聽鈥淟iving in Los Angeles, I have a different perspective of public space than I had in Boston. Los Angeles鈥攊n spite of the fact that it has a great climate where you can be outdoors most of the time鈥� doesn鈥檛 have that many parks, so school campuses, such as the UCLA campus, are an important feature of the city.鈥�

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