Meet Gordon Magnin

Gordon Magnin is a registered licensed architect and professional engineer in California and Nevada. He is a National Council of Architectural Design (NCARB) certificate holder and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green associate.   

Gordon has over 20 years of building and architecture experience on a wide variety of projects ranging from custom homes, hospitality, restaurants/bars, multifamily, institutional, and industrial/commercial projects of all scales and complexity levels.  His background includes a number of years working in structural and civil engineering, which have proven to be very beneficial in his architectural practice by giving him the technical skills and knowledge to implement and coordinate these trades in the earliest stages of project development.   

Gordon holds a Master’s Degree in architecture from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI_arc) and a Bachelor’s of Science in Structural Engineering from the University of Nevada, Reno.  He has also received a citation award from the Northern Nevada AIA (American Institute of Architects) for his “Quiet Walk” project in Tahoma Lake Tahoe. 

Gordon has a long history tied to the Reno/Tahoe region.  He was born and raised in Reno, Nevada, attended local schools through college and moved to Los Angeles for graduate school. He continued working in the Southern California area until achieving professional licensure.  After their first son was born in Los Angeles, Gordon and his family decided to move back to Reno where he worked for two award winning architects before starting his own in practice in 2018..   

Gordon is also a highly accomplished artist and illustrator with numerous publications, including illustrations for the New York Times, Bloomberg Business week and many art/editorial books.  He still has a keen interest in contemporary art.   

When Gordon is not working, he is spending time with his family outdoors, camping, running, hiking, backpacking or just exploring the natural environment of Tahoe, the Eastern Sierras, or the high desert of Nevada and great basin.   

“Gordon is one of the few people I’ve met (architect or otherwise) that understood my vision and creative goals from the get-go. He comes to the table with the unique skillset of being wildly creative, communicative, approachable and quick to iterate. Unlike other architects I’ve worked with in the past, he is humble enough to leave his ego at the door which allowed me to feel comfortable asking questions, raising objections or just brainstorming different ideas. With that said, Gordon is vocal and has strong convictions on what will work versus what is fantasy. His depth of technical knowledge combined with his creativity and focus certainly sets him apart from his peers and is ultimately what brought my vision to life.”  - Former Client