Richard Best M.Arch. ’82

When American architect Richard Best M.Arch. ’82 won The Hydra Executives,” an Apprentice-style real-estate reality show from the United Arab Emirates, he had a decidedly untypical plan for his $1 million winnings. This summer, Best donated $100,000 of his cash prize to the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina Against Malnutrition (IIMSAM).

Best received a certificate of recognition for his donation at the Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Organization’s (IREO) event held last June. He also accepted an IREO Best Practices Renewable Energy Award at the United Nations headquarters in New York for his commitment to eco-friendly architectural and interior designs. The prize is in the field of sustainable and renewable energy and recognizes those at the forefront of energy innovation.

Best spent five months in Abu Dhabi, where he first learned about IIMSAM while working with Sulaiman Al Fahim, the CEO of Hydra Properties and host of The Hydra Executives. The show pitted eight American against eight United Kingdom entrepreneurs to see which individual contestant had the best business mind and business plan. The contest was created as a way to introduce international entrepreneurial talent to the fast growing real estate market in Abu Dhabi and throughout the United Arab Emirates.

IMSAM works to promote the use of the blue-green algae known as spirulina against severe malnutrition. According to U.N. statistics, each day around 40,000 children die because of severe malnutrition and related diseases across the world. Malnutrition disempowers and affects the lives of around 852 million people globally in a drastic way. Rich in essential vitamins such as A, B-vitamin complexes, iron and essential fatty acids, spirulina offers health benefits to an undernourished person. Spirulina has been used effectively to combat malnutrition-related diseases in children in Mexico, Togo, Romania, China, Rwanda, Zaire, India, Ukraine and Belarus.

This may very well be the solution to our world-hunger problem,” Best says. “Easy to grow, more than environmentally friendly – the algae can actually help combat global warming – and more nutritious than most other comparative food sources. Once I learned about it, I couldn’t help but feel there had to be some way I could contribute, and I had just won this huge cash prize…it was a natural next step to make a donation to IIMSAM.”

Throughout his career, Best has been committed to eco-friendly designs, and it is for that commitment that IREO awarded him with its Best Practices Renewable Energy Award. Best’s architecture firm specializes in eco-friendly design, and two of his recent projects are in-process to receive a rarely attained Gold LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

“It is the goal of the IREO to support and engage in the development of renewable energy programs around the globe,” says Fahim, who presented the award to Best. “We strive to encourage governments and business leaders to embrace the future of renewable energy and recognize the growing demand for a wide range of fuels on a sustainable basis. IREO is taking a leading role to meet these challenges.

“I had the pleasure of watching Richard in action while he competed in my Hydra Executives competition, and I was impressed by his leadership skills and his business concepts,” Fahim adds. “Richard is a forward thinker with fresh innovative ideas – the kind of leader that meets the standards that IREO is promoting.”

As a UCLA student, Best studied under the world-renowned architect, Charles W. Moore and was part of Moore’s winning design team for the Beverly Hills Civic Center Competition in 1983.  Best became licensed as an architect in1986, and subsequently became nationally registered by NCARB in 1989. In 1988 Best began his own private practice in Hollywood, Richard Best Architect, Inc. Best says his work is exemplified by his relentless pursuit of sculptural clarity, skillful articulation of natural and artificial lighting, the use of natural warm finishes, and an intuitive understanding of material/technology and sustainable design.

Best remains committed to UCLA as a member of the UCLA Alumni Association and of the Bruin Professionals, a UCLA Alumni Network of experienced professionals, with regional chapters throughout California.