About

Steve Yett went on to graduate from
USC with his Bachelor of Architecture
degree. He worked for a number of
corporate firms the years following
graduation, but grew tired of their
politics, and more importantly felt like
they weren't really doing architecture.

"Mike's one of the coolest
architects that I've ever met. He
did his internship under Lloyd
Wright. He used to race cars with
Steve McQueen. There's quite an
Impressive list of alumni that have

worked for Mike… Some very famous architects…. Mike should be famous in his own right - he's completed some pretty
impressive structures. But he doesn't really care about glory. It seems like he genuinely just likes doing the projects with
minimal accolades. The best reward is the work itself. "

Steve Yett received his Architecture License in 1995. Appropriately enough, the first job that he completed under his license
was a surf shop that he did for the fee of a new board. Since then, he has completed a 99 seat equity-waiver theatre, a
deli/market, a toy store, a drug store, a dress shop, several offices and even the old City of Malibu Building Department
public counter. Currently he is involved with the Point Dume Village shopping center remodel. But the mainstay of his
practice has always been residential work - both remodels and new construction.

"The shift to architecture made the most sense to me." Steve Yett says definitely tongue-in-cheek. "Matt Kivlin, the inventor
of the short surfboard, went on to become an architect. And look at John Lautner - most of his projects look like waves."

Steve Yett realized that he wanted to be an architect after a near-death skateboard accident in the 6th grade. Bedridden for
the five months following the event that left him with a double skull-fracture, he had plenty of time to reflect on his earlier
chosen career path a surfer/skateboarder.

Steve Yett is in the somewhat unique position that he is
both a part of the last generation of architects to learn
how design by hand drawing, as well as the first
pioneers of the CADD age. As a result, his computer
drawings are meticulous - and many people don't
believe that they have been done on the computer.

"I refuse to let my drawings look like a robot drew
them. I first started out on Autocad which I found to
have severe limitations. I have been using Archicad
exclusively for almost ten years now. It's a ridiculously
fast stand-alone program that makes movies,
renderings, plans, elevations, sections - all from the
same file. It actually has changed my whole approach
to design."

His general approach to architecture is to try to be as
flexible as possible while keeping his eye on the
endgame result that the project has to be built. He
views design as a collaboration between himself, the
owner, the site, the governing codes, the other
required engineering and design disciplines, as well as
the contractor.

"When I was still in school I went to a lecture by San
Diego architect Rob Wellington Quigley. His general
attitude was not to let anything phase him…. I
remember there was some project where they found
an Indian burial site and he showed how he
sculpturally ran the building around the location. And
almost every project he started off telling the audience
a quirky request that the client made, where they
would ask him '….Is that alright?…" And he had this
attitude of not only the request being alright, but it
became a major component of what made the project
interesting."

"I had this one client, a couple, for the sake of speed of design,
the husband left me and the wife alone to design the house. She
owns a parrot, so her and I designed this unique shaped
courtyard for the parrot in the center of the house. Parrots can't
helicopter, so no clear distance of the courtyard could be greater
than 15 feet. Anymore than that and the parrot could fly out. Of
course when the husband saw the plans, he laughed that we
hadn't accounted for hawks swooping in and attacking the
parrot…. At any rate, the parrot's courtyard is the central element
of the house."

When you look at the full scope of Steve Yett's work, you immediately notice that it's all drastically
different, both in scale and style.