Steven Ehrlich

Ehrlich was born in New York City in 1946 and grew up in the Radburn section of Fair Lawn, New Jersey.[2] He graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1969.[3] Upon graduating, Ehrlich spent six years working in Africa, serving for two years in the Peace Corps as its first architect in Marrakesh, Morocco.[4] Ehrlich traveled across the Sahara and taught architecture at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria.[5] He admired the simplicity and effectiveness of the vernacular architecture that he encountered in Africa. Ehrlich moved to Venice, California in 1979 and established a small residential studio.[6] The influence from African architecture and the diverse environment of Los Angeles led to a trademarked design philosophy that Ehrlich coined "multicultural modernism," which advocates a sensitivity to the local culture in the process of design.[7] Ehrlich's studio has developed into an internationally renowned firm, now called Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects, which engages in residential, civic, commercial, and educational work. His forty-people firm was awarded the 2015 AIA National Architecture Firm Award and the 2003 AIA California Council Firm Award.[8]

Ehrlich has taught at Ahmadu Bello University, Montana State University, SCI-Arc, and UCLA. He is currently a visiting professor at the USC School of Architecture. He has been a visiting design critic at Harvard University, Yale University, and Woodbury University.[9]

• Maybeck Award, AIA California Council / 2011
• Gold Medal, AIA Los Angeles / 2015

• Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects - Official Website