Jonathan Segal FAIA Architects has created an alternative approach to the practice of architecture in the 21st century. Instead of the architect beholden to the client, developer, and contractor, Jonathan Segal has reestablished “the architect as master builder”. Focusing on the Downtown San Diego, California community, we have practiced architecture for the past twenty years without clients. By eliminating the client we have retained complete control of the design, development and construction of our sixteen unique and individual urban housing projects.
Our work, designed, developed, and constructed all in house, has led our city in award winning and trend setting single family and medium- to high-density residential, live/work, and mixed-use housing. We have designed and developed over 300 medium- to high-density urban residential, mixed use, and live/work units totaling over 300,000 square feet of construction. We have been considered Downtown San Diego’s most successful and pioneering residential architectural/development company and our reputation for providing high design housing at affordable levels is without precedent. Our focus is exclusively on urban projects, ranging from 80 to 160 dwelling units/acre.
Yet where many developers leave off, we take pride in the fact that each project has been developed with the communities support. In many cases these are communities that have been overlooked or misunderstood, yet we have pioneered the cultivation of safer and more proud neighborhoods. It has been our goal to richen the residential communities by taking on impossible sites, such as brownfields, or introducing affordable housing, proving the possibility for change demonstrated Instead of attempting to solve a cities residential problems with a single project overnight, we have attacked key points naturally realizing change. In this process, Jonathan Segal AIA has developed more individual buildings in downtown than anyone in the history of Downtown San Diego.
Throughout our firm’s history, we have been wholeheartedly devoted to the interests of Downtown San Diego and the betterment of its architecture. However, in many cases, new structures are not the solution to a neighborhood’s problems. We have always been staunchly opposed to insensitive development and have established principles about preserving historic and important architecture while sensitively integrating new development. This passion for architecture and the San Diego downtown community has not gone unnoticed. We have received numerous national, four state, and local design awards, and several of those underscore that his standout talents have come at an early age: he has won six National American Institute of Architecture Housing Honors (AIA) and four State of California AIA Honor Awards for Urban Housing more than any San Diego architect; he was named by the San Diego Union Tribune as one of “Four Architects” in the city’s history that have made a difference; in 2003, he was named to the AIA’s College of Fellows, FAIA – the youngest San Diego architect to be named to this prestigious fraternity; Jonathan was honored as Residential Architect Magazine’s 2004 National Rising Star; and most recently the Prospect was selected as one of Dwell Magazines top one hundred homes.
Jonathan’s interests in thoughtful architecture and development extend beyond his own projects. He shares his ideas frequently as an AIA speaker and has lectured at thirty US universities and at the University of Cataluna in Barcelona Spain and AIA chapters preachig “Architect As developer”nationwide. Most recently, Jonathan has been included as a founding member of the National AIA Congress of Residential Architecture (CORA) and along with Ted Smith founded the Woodbury Institute of Architecture for the Masters in Architectural development (MRED).