By: JEAN NAYAR
Architect Monika Haefelfinger and her team approach design with sound clarity and the experimental spirit of Los Angeles.
Like a finely crafted Swiss watch, the homes architect Monika Haefelfinger and her team create are reflections of precision, quality workmanship, and timeless style. Born in Basel, Switzerland, and raised in a family of architects, builders, and artists, the talented L.A.-based architect and president of XTEN Architecture developed an appreciation of architecture as a child—and much of what she learned growing up influences her approach to design today. “Art and design were always a part of my family’s daily conversations—architecture is part of my DNA,” says Haefelfinger. “And the modernist principles of the last century combined with Swiss rationalism have always been the starting point for me.”
Haefelfinger’s hands-on practice began as an apprentice in her father’s architecture firm before she enrolled in the School of Architecture at USC, where she earned her bachelor’s degree. After completing her graduate work at Columbia University in New York and working for the high-profile Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron in Basel, she founded XTEN Architecture with her late husband and architect, Austin Kelly, in 2000. “XTEN’s goal then and now is to build environments that enhance the daily lives of the people that inhabit them,” says Haefelfinger, who, since 2015, has led the firm with architect Scott Utterstrom. “Our aim is to create harmonious and rational spaces—we seek to build forms that have a sculptural quality, where light and shadows help define the space.”
While simplicity and a clear sense of purpose—hallmarks of classic modern Swiss design—are among the constants that drive the firm’s work, context is also crucial, particularly in Southern California, where most of XTEN’s projects are located. “Our work is very much about the connection to the landscape and surrounding environment,” says Utterstrom, whose Scandinavian roots and Copenhagen training also influence his design approach. “The climate in Southern California is part of it, but I think the varied landscape here provides most of the inspiration.”
Among the notable projects that best reflect their dynamic are the 2022 American Architecture Award-winning aMahouse, a two-story structure that gradually embeds itself into a hillside site in the Pacific Palisades and opens to views of the Pacific Ocean; and Skyhouse, another multi-award-winning home at the end of a cul-de-sac in Hollywood Hills with canyon, Century City and Pacific Ocean views. “Both projects are very successful in their relationship to the landscape as well as the level of craftsmanship and attention to each detail,” says Utterstrom. “The range of scale is critical to residential design in that you need to shift between the scale of the smallest details to the scale of how the home fits within the landscape.”
While most of its completed work is in Southern California, XTEN has also done residential projects in places like Switzerland, Spain, Finland, and Oman, where local conditions shape their designs. Yet, the architects always work with a combination of natural materials—wood and stone and abstract materials like plaster, concrete, or terrazzo—and embrace sustainable principles, especially energy and resource efficiency, as well as sun control. “We think a lot about how light and shadows transform the spaces we create,” says Haefelfinger. “Good architecture has a direct impact on the well-being of our community. We like to create an interplay between open and more private spaces, and we’re most interested in the interstitial spaces, where views are framed and celebrated. We aim to create spaces with a certain stillness and help people feel at home.” Utterstrom echoes her thoughts, pointing to the team’s emphasis on clarity as another key to the success of their projects. “It leads to functional, calming interiors that enhance the lives of their inhabitants,” he says. “Yet each project is distinguished by one thing that ties it together and really makes it sing.”
