JAGAR Architecture, Los Angeles: Collaboration, Innovation, Exploration.

Jagar is a creative design company of innovative retail, commercial and residential projects. Founded in 2009 by principal José Antonio González, the practice has a strong commitment towards exploring innovative directions in design and branded architectural representation. 

Before launching Jagar, González had over ten years of previous experience in design and architecture firms around the world including Team Haas Architects in Austin, Sauerbruch Hutton Architects in Berlin and RGA Architects and Planners in New York City. In addition, González collaborated with Frank Gehry and Edwin Chan at Gehry Partners as a design associate for seven years, with involvement in a number of national and international projects such as the ‘Puente de Vida’ Biomuseo museum in Panama City, the Brooklyn Atlantic Yards Arena and Towers in New York. 

“It was hard to leave pretty much every one of those cities,” says González. “LA fits really well on a personal level because it’s a little closer to my home country of Mexico with urban and social issues that are more related to my own personal experience.” 

Being centrally located near LACMA is intentional, with strong connections to downtown, while the organisational culture of the open studio environment is kept as simple as possible for flexibility.

Within the office there are no hierarchies and everybody is aware of the projects going on. “We try to keep it really even with a horizontal structure. We have a big central table and a perimeter with all the computers and equipment so there’s a visual connection; it’s like a big open living room,” says González. 

This is a dynamic moment for Los Angeles with major infrastructural developments and the 2028 Olympics being an igniting force for new architecture. González believes Jagar is well placed to take advantage of a new design renaissance in the city he now calls home, envisioning a more powerful and design-orientated architecture firm evolving in tandem with a city that is renowned for an ability to reinvent itself. “It’s a great time for Los Angeles,” says González. “At the end of the day I think it’s a place where you can grow.”