Aleks Istanbullu Architects is an award winning internationally recognized firm based in Santa Monica, California, known for its elegant spatial planning, attention to detail, and commitment to sustainable contemporary design responsive to client, context, and community.

broad range of scale,  typology and clientele – keeps us sharp and curious

We work in a variety of scales and project types ranging from meticulously detailed guesthouses and residences on sites such as a secluded Beverly Hills hilltop to the integration of light rail, a bridge and an underpass into the Historic Core of downtown Tucson. While our work includes local community buildings such as a Church of Our Savior in San Gabriel, we also work internationally on projects such as the Karsiyaka Vertical Commercial Center in Izmir, Turkey. Additionally our designs for adaptive re-uses of Landmark buildings include the Biscuit Company Lofts, St. Elmo Village in Los Angeles, and the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena.

principal’s hands on approach infuses innovation with information – design intensifies

Aleks combines his training in classic modernism and respect for history with a Southern California environmental and aesthetic sensibility. Istanbullu takes a hands-on approach to every project, evolving each into an individual, aesthetic and functional whole reflective of his determination to find and combine the most elemental and natural concepts. This results in buildings that are inherently sustainable and emotionally evocative. A playful and sensuous minimalism together with an intellectual rigor and conceptual clarity is a hallmark of Aleks’s work. His detailing and choice of materials is elegant and warm, with an emphasis on tactility and color, generating an ongoing dialogue with its inhabitants, within the building itself, and in relation to each building’s context.

commitment to collaboration, research and competitions – it takes a team

Aleks’s continuing commitment to collaborating with younger architects, teaching, and competitions maintains a vibrant and contemporary spirit within the studio. Ongoing in-house research & development of new ideas, systems and technologies by young designers keep us curious, committed, and creative.  We believe that design informed by such thoughtful research acquires resonant identity and lasting meaning that will inspire others.