KOVAC DESIGN STUDIO - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Studio Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the Studio Team
Job Titles:
- Founder and Design Partner
Michael was born into an Air Force family in coastal Maine, and his extensive travels as a youngster included long stays in Okinawa, Japan. Early influences - aviation, aircraft, and exposure to non-Western cultures - would later subtly inform his work. Michael's family eventually settled in Las Vegas, from whence he subsequently escaped to the saner confines of the USC School of Architecture on a Trustee Scholarship.
Early in his career, Michael worked in the office of noted modernist Jerrold Lomax, before founding Kovac Architects (now Kovac Design Studio) in 1988; he soon earned a number of commissions for high end health clubs, commercial spaces, and detail-rich residences. Michael is passionate about design and innovation; not only in architecture, but also in industrial design and lighting. To this end, he is directing the office's work on a line of lighting for mass production, as well as several pieces of furniture to be available in more limited release. Michael is, as they say, ‘outdoor-sy', and experimented with just about every outdoor sport REI sells gear for before settling on mountain biking, stand-up paddle-boarding, and downhill skiing. He and wife Karina, a pediatrician, met while trail riding. She keeps his elbows bandaged, and her excellent vegetarian cuisine has moderated his penchant for hot dogs and In-N-Out Burger (or so he claims). They share a love of nature and sustainable living, and moved into Sycamore House, the firm's first LEED Platinum project, in the Spring of 2010.
Back of house spaces include meeting rooms, library, kitchen, and model / 3D fabrication shop where we experiment with materials, prepare mockups, and prototype ideas.
While we would have loved to check out the scuba suits, now the space meets our diverse needs - enabling the free flow of creativity, and sharing of ideas.
Thomas is a California-licensed architect who has worked across projects of multiple scales including high-profile residential, commercial and adaptive re-use projects.
Born and raised in Sao Paulo, and trained in Canada, Germany, and LA, Thomas brings an international perspective to what he designs and builds. In his 20-year career, Thomas's projects have been honored in significant publications and have received numerous design awards. He is a natural problem solver who cherishes, and is enriched by, the lasting relationships formed during the life of each project from conception to construction. Thomas has taught and lectured and has been actively involved in community and non-profit organizations. In his free time, of which there is little with a set of twins at home, he flees to the outdoors, always energized by the wonders of LA.