Lifestyle // The Romanesque Romantic...or Don Juan de Stijl?

Architecture and romance maintain a curious and often tenuous rapport. One would expect, for example, that architects are tremendous lovers. After all, they work extensively with their strong but delicate hands. They have impeccable taste which has been cultivated through a broad and cultured education. They have an artistic sensibility and an appreciation for the sensuous qualities of form (body) and material (skin). And, of course, with an intimate knowledge of construction, they are handy to have around the house at all times of the day - or night. All these facts must have been considered when some Dutch academic journal recently listed "architect" as the world's sexiest profession. So not only are we (architects) great lovers, we're also the sexiest people. As if I didn't have enough already going for me, eh? Hardy har har...Tom-Cruise-lookalike my ass.

[House of the Century by Ant Farm. Is that a building or are you just excited to see me?]

Unfortunately for me, these qualities have not reversed to even a single degree my recent  fabulous failings in the world of love and romantic conquest. They should at least allow me to overcome my ice-cold first impressions, mumbling, constant looks of bitterness, anger, and/or consternation, and lack of emotional openness, right? Well, first I'd have to ask myself if it is even possible to live up to the standards set down by the egghead sociologists in Amsterdam or wherever and what possible misconceptions contribute to these illusory statements.

Place // The Amazing Parking Lots of LA

If I'm ever bored and on a computer - wait, when am I not? - I like to take a personalized tour of the various neighborhoods of LA through the vistas of Google Earth. Seriously, I could roam the LA stratosphere for hours. You really get an idea of the incredible topological and infrastructural forces that have shaped the city over the past 100 years. One facet, or byproduct, of these forces, which almost always defer to the automobile, is the existence of gigantic parking lots, some right in the middle of the city and some large enough to give you the feeling that you could see them from outer space! I've posted a few of my favorite parking lot overheads, and though there might be some more dramatic ones in the peripheral communities in Orange County, San Bernardino, etc. I've purposefully chosen lots near downtown LA. These lots demand a ludicrous amount of land and really destroy what is otherwise decent urban fabric in their particular contexts.

The possibility for positive, beneficial redevelopment, whether architectural or landscaped, constitutes the future for many of these lots. This potential is compounded by the increased emphasis on storm-water management and responsible treatment of local ecologies. I believe there is already a plan in place for the lot in Inglewood, though I'm not familiar with any of the details.

[Dodger Stadium. Giant parking lot on the top of a hill in Echo Park. Drainage issues? Maybe. Might explain the existence of the reservoir to the east.]

Project // Fall Semester Recap

[View from the penthouse of City National Plaza, where our final reviews - called "Blue Tape" - were held. More information on the event here and here.]

Fall semester at USC was like a romantic fling; at first, school work occupied my every thought, consumed my time and required my physical presence at all hours of the night, but I needed the pace - after all, I hadn't been in school for a long, long time. So I wanted it, and I got it. Hard. And then the semester crept along, and it became more and more difficult to maintain the pace that seemed so natural at the beginning. At certain points, I had to ask myself, "Why even bother? What am I getting out of this? I'm so busy I can't even think straight!" Towards the end, fatigue and frustration made the work unbearable, but I had to give it once last necessary push at the end, if for no other reason but to test myself. Then it all came to a halt - done - over. While in a way its saddening to detach yourself from the routine and the familiar faces, the end also brings a sense of incredible relief and a release of a massive burden. It's at that point you sternly assert, "I never want to go back to school ever again!!!"

But enough of the amorous conceit. I won't spend too much time discussing the work, just displaying it and providing some background. I would prefer to respond to comments rather than wax poetic about my own feelings, as conversation is always preferred to dictation. So, my loyal readers (all three or four of you), let me know what you think and I'll be happy to explain or clarify any confusing points.

First, some quick thoughts:

Place // San Diego, CA

Though there are few truly vital reasons to leave LA's urban soup for San Diego's relative towniness, there are a few compelling ones. Most of them involve fantastic CaliMex food, the insane Tijuana border--for which I had neither the stones nor the time to visit, instead choosing to guide my lovely female companions to relative safety/sanity--and NFL football, SoCal-style. But if you're a student of architecture, conquistadors, or just like the beach, it's worth a look. But first a little history...

The area was first explored by Spanish explorer Sebastian Vizcaino in 1602 and named for a Spanish saint, San Diego de Alcalá. In 1769, a group of Spanish missionaries established a permanent colony on a site now known as "Old Town" San Diego. Later, the colony transformed into a military outpost, displacing the missionaries a few miles to the east, and was the location of a few small skirmishes between Spanish soliders and the indigenous Native American tribe, the Kumeyaay. Mexico gained indepedence from Spain in 1821 and San Diego progressed under Mexican jurisdiction until the resolution of the Mexican-American War in 1850 (known as the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo) ceded the city to the U.S.

Update // Happy New Year!

Yes, the blog was left fallow through the end-of-semester madness and various holiday adventures. Apologies to all. But now it's time to pull up the weeds and get it crankin' once again! I have made it part of my resolutions to write more regularly - or at least as regularly as I used to - but it remains to be seen whether I have the fortitude to make it stick. I usually fail when it comes to resolutions, though I am a bit more optimistic about this year. The economy seems to be turning around, say the crackpot number doctors on Capitol Hill, which should make anyone in the architecture business smile a little (though it is unclear if this improvement will lead to more design jobs). And at long last, one of four semesters of M. Arch is in the books, and I have grown accustomed to the grind. 

Other resolutions: explore more of California and the Southwest. Trips hopefully in store: San Diego / Salk, Santa Barbara, Pacific Coast Highway, San Francisco, Vegas, Phoenix. At least one of these is sure to happen in the next month or so...updates on that later. Also, better health and more romance. Can't promise any (detailed) updates on that.

Visited the new LA Holocaust Museum this afternoon. Interesting building by LA firm Belzberg Architects...Mr. Belzberg was a visiting professor for the undergrads this fall. The surfaces and lines are soft and sinuous and the interior volumes are terraced, sunken into the ground and covered with grassy vegetation, creating a seamless transition to the undulating hills of Park La Brea on whose north end the museum sits. Shot-crete construction facilitated these formal gestures, and the hard nature of the material contrasts with the smooth curves. Philosophically, this is a vastly different approach than, for example, the obvious symbolism of Libeskind's jagged, violent forms in Berlin. Yet while it's a perfectly fine building in and of itself, it does leave me wanting a little bit more visible emotional content.

[Sunken entry.]