About Christo Mar

I’m a builder, architectural designer, and artist living in the Crescent City. Early in my time here I decided I wanted to build a home from a Shipping Container. At the time, I didn’t own a hammer. Now, many years later, I have several Shipping Container domiciles, worked on many post-Katrina renovations from hired muscle to foreman, helped design houses on several coasts, and led the design and fabrication of many smaller details within countless projects, from garden landscape projects to furniture design competitions. I truly enjoy the intricacies of design thinking in the built environment. I want to build spaces that not only look incredible, but function that way too. 

 

My influences vary across both time and space. I credit my blacksmith Father and ceramicist Mother for my appreciation of the handmade within everyday life, and it is these details that stand out at the finish of any project. My deepest thanks goes to Christopher Alexander, whose theories of space and the human experience within the built environment cannot be overstated. In addition to countless other designers and architects from past and present, the largest influence on my building practice is my daily experience within the city of New Orleans. As one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in the United States, New Orleans never ceases to teach those who take the time to listen. In The City That Care Forgot, those who can sit still long enough with their eyes open can learn from the past successes - and failures - of the myriad builders who have come before. The forgotten wreckage of a house is filled with as many lessons as any St. Charles Avenue Victorian mansion.

 

Are you looking to make something beautiful? Drop me a line.