Toni Maria Anschuetz
Healthy housing | Los Angeles · Berlin

A home should be healthy to live in, and built for a landscape that burns.

The air a house should give you.
Breathe4 s in · 6 s out

Healthy air is measurable, and so are its sources: every material, glue and finish in a house. Tested before move-in, so "healthy" is a number, not an adjective.

I trained as an architect in Germany and have lived and worked in Los Angeles and Berlin since 2010. I work on healthy, sustainable buildings: low-toxicity, carbon-storing materials, clean indoor air, and prefabrication that makes well-designed homes repeatable. Most of my work sits between Germany and California: what one building culture knows, the other can learn from.

Background
WhereLiving and working between Los Angeles and Berlin since 2010.
EducationDipl.-Ing. Architecture, TU Berlin. Licensed Architect at Architektenkammer Berlin.
MethodDesign Thinking Coach, HPI School of Design Thinking.
PracticeSelf-employed since 2012, from city planning to small remodels and concept work. Since 2020: research on healthy materials and sustainable prefab.
MembershipIntl. Assoc. AIA (American Institute of Architects) · AWA+D, Association for Women in Architecture + Design, Los Angeles · USGBC California.
Questions I'm working on
What does "healthy" mean in a house, in numbers?

A house should be able to prove it. Know what every material is made of, keep the finishes low-emission, and measure the air before anyone moves in.

Which assemblies meet California's wildfire code today?

Fire safety lives in the exterior skin. Inside it, a house can be made of materials that are good to live with.

A material library, as it stands

Nine materials I keep coming back to.

Clay plaster sample
Clay plaster
Interior finish. Regulates humidity, no VOCs, repairable.
Lime render sample
Lime render
Mineral exterior finish. Breathes, ages well.
Dense-pack cellulose sample
Dense-pack cellulose
Recycled-paper insulation, borate-treated.
FSC timber frame sample
FSC timber frame
The carbon store. Fire safety comes from the skin around it.
Mineral wool sample
Mineral wool
Non-combustible where fire detailing asks for it.
Fibre cement sample
Fibre cement
A tested exterior skin for fire country.
Wood-fibre insulation sample
Wood-fibre insulation
Standard in German healthy prefab.
Hemp-lime sample
Hemp-lime
Carbon-storing, vapour-open walls.
Straw panels sample
Straw panels
Prefab straw walls, made in factories today.

Nine of my favorite materials to build with.

Why this

The fires were personal.

My children went to school in the Pasadena–Altadena area. Almost two years after January 2025, most destroyed homes in Altadena are not yet rebuilt, most families are underinsured, and many worry about what went into the ground and what will go into the new house.

The rebuild is a once-in-a-generation chance to build better. I'd like to understand what a first house would have to prove, and who is already doing the work well.

Numbers I keep in mind
16,264
structures destroyed in the Eaton and Palisades fires
CAL FIRE, 2026
~200
of roughly 7,000 destroyed Altadena homes fully rebuilt
Inside Climate News, 4 Oct 2026
36%
of US home buyers put a "clean" home (air and water filtration) in their top three features
Redfin / Ipsos, 2026

Contact

If you work on healthy materials, wildfire resilience, prefab construction or the Los Angeles rebuild, I'd like to hear from you. I answer every message.

Emailtoni@tonianschuetz.com
LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/tonimariaanschuetz
WhereLos Angeles, California · Berlin, Germany
Toni Maria Anschuetz
Let's talk.Toni Maria Anschuetz