With credits that include work spanning the globe from 325 Fifth Avenue in New York to various projects in China, rising star architect Michael Wacht recently launched Los Angeles-based intuARCH. The firm specializes in the conceptual design of commercial scale architecture.
Wacht says, “By focusing on the early stages of what to build and how to build, we analyze the potential of a site and the project program to bring value to our clients. We link project visualization with sound financial strategies.”
The firm handles Architecture, Conceptual + Schematic Design, Entitlements, Pre-Development, Programming, Zoning Analysis and Land Use.
Wacht has over a decade of project management with all phases of design, from concept to construction administration. He is a Licensed Architect in the states of California and New York, and is LEED and NCARB Certified. A graduate of the Bachelor of Architecture program at Cornell University, he spent several years in New York apprenticing at acclaimed B Five Studio learning the art of detailing and the finesse of natural materials. His passion for commercial scale architecture led him to Stephen B Jacobs Group, where he became Project Manager for successful mixed-use projects totaling over $200 million in construction, including 325 Fifth Avenue, be@schermerhorn and historic renovations proposed for the famous Puck Building in SoHo.
Following a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Design he moved to Los Angeles in 2009 to complement the hard edge of New York with the vibrancy of being in the creative capital of the United States. He became Director of the Los Angeles Studio for internationally acclaimed firm MADA s.p.a.m., apprenticing under Qingyun Ma, Dean of the University of Southern California School of Architecture.
Wacht frequently flew between the main office in Shanghai and the studio in Los Angeles, managing projects ranging in scale from public institutions to urban master plans. He then spent several years working as a Project Architect for the Los Angeles design firm John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects, where his experience expanded to include university buildings, condominiums, schools, and commercial centers. Clients at JFAK included UC Santa Barbara, Occidental College, The Taubman Company, Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative, ALTA Charter Schools, and Icon Venue Group (AEG).
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Wacht says, “We believe that design must constantly be evaluated for effectiveness. Our designs are produced by determining the most important goals of a project in reference to context, economics, user groups, program, circulation, and the environment. Our clients are presented with clear reasons and options of how we can create a successful building together. We call this Efficacy in Architecture, and it is achieved through a partnership with our clients with whom we share applicable data, logic, and diagrams to facilitate the design process.”
The company name comes from our consistent belief that users of a building “have intuitive perceptions of space.” Wacht says, “We can design our buildings to be more successful by understanding the true nature of how users would interpret our buildings. Successful architecture creates spaces of comfort, delight, enjoyment, and movement.”
For more information visit IntuARCH.com
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