Autodesk has partnered with the non-profit Foothill Catalog Foundation (TFCF) to create a catalog of pre-approved modular home designs for people displaced by the Los Angeles fires in January.
They’re engaging volunteer architects, engineers and students to create house concepts that reduce design and permit costs by 95%. Autodesk has so far released one design called “The Lewis”.
The homes are being designed to resist extreme heat, wildfire and power outages, and to fit in with the area.
The goal is to cut the time it takes to get building permits from months to weeks.
The team is creating a standardised Revit template for designs that automatically meet pre-approval and sustainability requirements using tools like Autodesk Forma and BIM Collaborate Pro.
Alex Athenson, TFCF co-founder, said: “This partnership is helping turn our vision into reality at a time when families can’t afford to wait.
“We’re making sustainable, regionally sensitive home designs more accessible—and creating a pathway for faster, more resilient recovery for communities that need it most.”
Andrew Anagnost, Autodesk’s chief executive, said: “Our technology powers the industries that are rebuilding Los Angeles — from planning, architecture, engineering, and manufacturing to construction.
“This is about designing and building for resilience—not just to recover from disaster, but to efficiently scale solutions, inspire recovery models everywhere and futureproof our communities.”
Autodesk has previously stated it will fund an AI-powered software tool to speed up permits needed for building, working alongside Governor Gavin Newsom, LA Rises and Steadfast LA.
In January Newsom signed an executive order intended to speed up reconstruction and reduce price gouging once the California wildfires had been extinguished.
- Subscribe here to get stories about construction around the world in your inbox three times a week
Further Reading:
