Jun 16, 2026 · 46 min · 11 segments
Leon Rost is an architect, and a partner at BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group and leads the Los Angeles office. After completing his architectural studies at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, he gained work experience…
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Leon RostGuest
Chloe RomanoHost
The highlights are, it really started with my childhood in Japan where, you know, I was in this culture surrounded by manga and anime and drawing really became the first passion.
You know, I find myself drawing a lot of fantasy worlds and landscapes and cities and houses and things like this.
But when I came to the US when I was eight years old, suddenly everyone was telling me how good I was at drawing.
And, you know, I through that became more interested in the arts and became probably drawn or interested in architecture towards the time I was applying for colleges.
But I would say like another pivotal moment was When I was 17, I did a backpacking trip around Europe and I literally stumbled across the Guggenheim in Bilbao.
And, and, um, I think architecture got my attention at that point, and that was around the time I was applying for schools.
Still wasn't really sure, so I applied to many different universities under many different majors, and the point when it actually clicked was when I visited Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and I walked into a studio, and just the environment felt so...
so stimulating and so exciting and also just a realization that you know, the next five years of university, let alone your whole life, maybe you don't have to read books and study and write papers, that there's a different path to a productive and contributing member of society.
And just making models and drawings seem like a great way to at least spend the next five years but yeah that that kind of studio environment was was really what finally grabbed me to to study architecture
The highlights are, it really started with my childhood in Japan where, you know, I was in this culture surrounded by manga and anime and drawing really became the first passion.
You know, I find myself drawing a lot of fantasy worlds and landscapes and cities and houses and things like this.
But when I came to the US when I was eight years old, suddenly everyone was telling me how good I was at drawing.
And, you know, I through that became more interested in the arts and became probably drawn or interested in architecture towards the time I was applying for colleges.
But I would say like another pivotal moment was When I was 17, I did a backpacking trip around Europe and I literally stumbled across the Guggenheim in Bilbao.
And, and, um, I think architecture got my attention at that point, and that was around the time I was applying for schools.
Still wasn't really sure, so I applied to many different universities under many different majors, and the point when it actually clicked was when I visited Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and I walked into a studio, and just the environment felt so...
so stimulating and so exciting and also just a realization that you know, the next five years of university, let alone your whole life, maybe you don't have to read books and study and write papers, that there's a different path to a productive and contributing member of society.
And just making models and drawings seem like a great way to at least spend the next five years but yeah that that kind of studio environment was was really what finally grabbed me to to study architecture
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