John Lasry

Born in Tunis, Tunisia in the French Colony in North Africa, Mr. Lasry lived there until he moved to Paris for his higher education at a very young age. He graduated from high school at sixteen and received a PhD and a Masters degree from HEC in Law and Business Administration by the time he was 22.

Mr. Lasry practiced law in Paris very briefly. After litigating his first case in court and winning the case, he realized that being a lawyer was not for him, to the disappointment of his family.

Mr. Lasry than embarked on a huge project called “Le Tekki” This project was to be his first business venture. After raising the funds and hiring the architect, the project was on its way, only to be side tracked by the architect abandoning the project not even half way through. Left without a choice, Mr. Lasry finished the project himself. Through on the job training he learned many trades and realized that he had a passion and a gift for architecture. His first business venture turned into his first architectural project.

Following this project, Mr. Lasry was starting to make a name for himself as a young promising architect. He developed patents and built round houses which were the centerpiece of “La Foire de Paris” and was hired by another a famous French Architect to design and build a sales office. The Architect was also a professor of Architecture in Paris and had his students use the sales office, consisting of 4 round houses as a research project and thesis for his graduate students.

While his reputation was growing in France, he also received offers from American companies to work in the US. Mr. Lasry had always wanted to leave France and had a vision of creating a village in America where he could live, play and work in the same place surrounded by his family and friends. Unfortunately, that project has not yet been realized. After meeting and working with Welton Beckett and other companies, he realized that Miami and America were not yet ready for his architecture and designs and instead of having to change his architecture to the taste of the times, he went back into the business world.

While in Miami, one of his first business ventures was the creation of Arthemis, which designed and built furniture for the US and Latin America markets. The store remained open until the late 1990’s and the TV series “Miami Vice” would often rent furniture from them for their sets.

Mr. Lasry worked with local architects and developers, such as Tibor Hollo, during the 30 year gap from architecture while still occasionally drawing plans for family and friends. After a long and successful career in real estate developing, Mr. Lasry decided to slow down and enjoy his time with family and friends, not to mention his 5 grandchildren.

A few years ago, while being semi retired, his sons pushed him back into Architecture knowing that this was his real passion. Over the last 30 years Mr. Lasry occasionally designed homes and buildings for his own enjoyment and helped out his son while in Architecture school. One of his first projects back after this gap to be completed was his son’s house in Golden Beach. For the first time since “Le Tekki”, Mr. Lasry could actually design and build what he envisioned. Through this house, many people have again approached Mr. Lasry to design and build houses, buildings and other structures.