About Cass Smith
Cass Calder Smith, AIA is an award-winning architect that designs residences, restaurants, showrooms, and more. He and his firm have designed contemporary buildings and interiors for discerning clients domestically and internationally, which includes over one hundred contemporary homes he refers to as unaffordable housing and two hundred restaurants of every type. He attributes a significant amount of his success to not only solving design problems and professional delivery, but also to closely working collaboratively with his clients.
Smith established the firm that bears his name in 1992. He earned his Bachelor and Master of Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. With design studios in both New York and San Francisco, he also lives in both cities. Firmly based in the modernist idiom, Smith draws inspiration from history’s masterful architects and remarkable cities as well as several epic filmmakers. Creative expression and unique innovation are characteristic of his designs balanced with intricate detail and pragmatism.
In addition to professional practice, Cass teaches design at UC Berkeley, is a Trustee on the Board for the Djerassi Resident Artists Program and chaired the Civic Design Review Committee on The San Francisco Arts Commission for 8 years. He is also involved with curatorial groups at the Whitney Museum, and both the San Francisco and New York Museums of Modern Art. Smith and his work have won numerous design awards and have been published in The New York Times, Architectural Record, Metropolitan Home, Metropolis, Dwell, and Interior Design among others.
The firm’s residential clients and projects range from families to individuals, primary homes to second homes, single-family to multi-unit, and from urban to rural. Commercial clients, past and present include Tesla Motors, Hyatt International, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, The Howard Hughes Corporation, Diamond Foundry/Vria, SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker, Agnes b, Nick & Toni’s, and Vesuvio Bakery to name only a few.
