Steven Ehrlich is the founding partner of EYRC Architects, today a nationally recognized firm with a practice encompassing institutional, commercial, and residential project. Early in his career, Ehrlich spent six years living and working in North Africa, an experience that taught him the importance of the relationship between architecture and the culture and environment in which it stands. That principle remains a core value of EYRC. His work has garnered many awards, including the AIA California Maybeck Award and the AIA Los Angeles Gold Medal for Lifetime Achievement.

Takashi Yanai is a partner at EYRC and has been Residential Studio Director since 2004. His work is rooted in a contemplative relationship to landscape and is a continuation of the California modernist ethos infused with reinterpretations of traditional Japanese elements, connecting man and nature through deliberate siting and attention to craft.

Zahid Sardar is editor of SPACES magazine. He teaches design history at the California College of the Arts and has written several books, including San Francisco Modern and New Garden Design.