Made in Japan by L.A.

Being an architect, I enjoyed Barbara Isenberg’s article “The Hot Wave From L.A.” (Sept. 15) on Los Angeles architects working in Japan. I have recently completed a project there and can offer additional observations.

The Japanese way of doing business is neither entrepreneurial nor improvisational. Their decision-making process is largely done by committee and ends up being one of synthesizing. This process certainly contributes to their having been awarded so few Nobel Prizes, and they are very conscious of this fact.

In regard to their residential work, they are ambivalent about the extent to which they want to emulate Western design. They definitely want the exterior design but not necessarily the function.

One of the challenges for an L.A. architect doing residential work in Japan is whether his style should remain pure, as my Japanese client encouraged, or whether it is more important to weave traditional Japanese elements into the design, which is what we chose to do.

Los Angeles is at an interesting crossroads both geographically and chronologically. Architecture and culture in Los Angeles are not saddled with 300 years of tradition, as are our East Coast counterparts. We are the frontier for Easterners going west and are now truly a revolving door for Asians moving east.

In Los Angeles, having rejected our Spanish heritage, we enjoy a freedom of thought and stylistic tradition. But we also have a responsibility in our search for new markets not to export superficial trends counter to their heritage and turn Japan into still another Disneyland.

RON GOLDMAN

Malibu