The Maybeck Award winner discusses multicultural modernism, the upcoming John M. Roll U.S. Courthouse, the just-opened Contemporary Arts Center at UC Irvine and more.

BY IRENE LACHER Special to the Los Angeles Times

Culver City architect Steven Ehrlich, 65, recently received the 2011 Maybeck Award for achievement in architecture from the American Institute of Architects California Council.

The design principal of the 30-person firm Ehrlich Architects, he is also a visiting professor at USC and his work the subject of the recently published “Steven Ehrlich Houses” (Monacelli Press).

Let’s talk about multicultural modernism, which is what you call your design philosophy. I would think it would be more relevant than ever as globalization continues apace. First of all, what is multicultural modernism?

It’s a term that we coined here; we even trademarked it. I have no idea why. It’s kind of a broad term that means we live in a very complex world, a very interesting world and that there is no single architectural design solution as you apply it to different locations. And it certainly doesn’t work if you apply it to different cultures. For example, why would a building in Beijing look like a building in Boston? … Our society and other societies around the world should embrace modern technology that takes us to wonderful new places and simultaneously listen to people and to place and to culture. And that uniqueness can express itself.

How does it express itself architecturally?

I’ll give you two examples. We now have under construction the federal courthouse in Yuma, Ariz., and it’s named the John M. Roll United States Courthouse, so it’s named after Judge Roll, who was slain in the Gabbie Giffords [shooting]. We wanted to give something back to the city of Yuma, and we created this very large canopy that creates shade made out of photovoltaic panels, which produces 25% of the building’s electricity. Here we listened to the climate, which is very intense, and we’re creating a beautiful location very close to downtown. We’re creating a new gathering place using the highest technology of not only creating shade but producing electricity. It’s kind of an ancient interpretation of a modern solution, but it’s culturally imbued in that it’s giving something back to that community.

Another example is we recently won a design

See EHRLICH, page C23