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This weekend I finally got my stuff together. I read myself to sleep Friday night around 900p to some Neutra houses and plans. Woke up early Saturday morning to get to Palm Springs by 1030a. I haven't been slacking or laying around Escalante-Lentz Residence with a cold. I think this is a new beginning. But can life get better? With sleep and a deep tissue massage, yes.

The Palm Canyon Mixed-Use project finally got approved by City Council.
After much heated debate among the regulatory agencies having jurisdiction over the project, on Wensday October 25th. the $50 mi project got approved 5-0 by City Council.

It has been a long road for our team to achieve such a milestone. After a three hour debate the project was approved unanimously and needless to say, the team, along with the clients, Linnekens, Ozell and Herscu, we all went to Melvin's Ingleside Inn and celebrated in style. We had great food, party like rock stars and high-fived eachother to no end.

It was a culmination of many sacrifices in all sides. But here again, Escalante Architects is trailblazing to push the frontiers of design, dissolving the boundaries between architecture and other fields in order to find our own voice.

Running can challenge us in all kinds of magical ways. I am not a "good runner" because I am me. I am a "good" me because I am a runner.

You can always find a metaphor when it comes down to running...

You can find beauty, solace and redemption..no matter what.

It is the culmination of experiences, the knowledge that the body can be pushed past its breaking point, just like the heart. In both instances, when you come to the end of yourself. God's grace is all that sustains. And that is enough...

Tim Justice, joined the Escalante Architects team as a senior principal and we are looking forward to a mutually beneficial relationship for years to come.

For those of you who were not at the office today, we started the day with a kick-off meeting in which we highlighted all the "in-housekeeping" issues we need to address as well as the projects coming our way and the overall mission of our architectural practice. Then, as usual we went out get something to eat, rolled-up our sleeves and got to work. We have some draconian deadlines to meet in the near future. What else is new?

Ju-ju, I do not know if you read the blog, but, FYI I ran the race this morning. The excitement of racing took away my common sense, so I went out with the front pack for the first mile... Not a good idea. Afterwards I slowed down what it amounted to a death march. I kept using all the tricks I have learned throughout the years, but none of them worked, like "enjoy the scenery", "look at the sunrise", "isn't the desert beautiful", "you are not falling apart" "that is someone else's huffing and puffing". The last mile was particularly hard... I wonder why? does the 16% slope has anything to do with it? who cares. At the end, I was delirious, suffered a complete heart failure, an asthma attack and all sorts of opportunistic ailments. I will never do it again... Nevertheless, I ran the way back and finally, when I was feeling good at mile 7, I believe I passed out when I saw Lourdes and Sofia running towards me at the bottom of the Tramway.

It was a suffer-fest, you were smart to bail.

October 10, 2006

Dear Ms. Ana Escalante,
Member and Lecturer at the AIA National Convention
Professor of Architecture at CSU Pomona
Lecturer at the 7th. International Symposium of International Architecture.
Published countless times in Architectural Record,
Quoted in Time Magazine, 2004
Laureate of the Neutra Foundation Award,
Profiled in ARCHITECTURE Home + Design Quoted and Published in Metropolitan Home
A reluctant mother to two pre-teen girls known as Lourdes and Sofia.
Master to Quasimodo, three amigos and an overweight Emma
Dubiously married to a certain Brian Lentz
Owner to a undefined architectural practice known as Esc ARch
Friend to many individuals of dubious reputation and political affiliations
Supporter of peculiar causes and charities
Die-hard for Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez
An anarchist at heart and an anti-Bush provocateur,

I'd like to start by saying, Don't kill me. but i cannot make it next weekend. i have a review on monday and i'm definitely going to need the weekend to do everything. i would like to work on the project but the timing is completely inopportune. but you were my witness, i did it once, with a cold, isn't that enough? who runs up a mountain in the desert with a cold? i think it's a guiness world record of some sort. well, it is up to you whether you decide i am worthy or not. but i will not be able to make it up there this weekend, i just can't. i'm sorry to disappoint you ana. i am busy to the brim.

Juju
Graduate Student of UCLA Architecture and Urban Design
Senior Designer at Escalante Architects
Bassist/Drummer of The Boogie Pirates
Despiser of Most Architects who are full of Sh*t
Enthusiast of the Lazy River
Son of Melvin and Dorothy
Born in the Southern United States
Non-Coffee Drinker

http://www.pe.com/sharedcontent/VideoPlayer/showVideo.php?vidId=90264

"The Palm Canyon Mixed Use Project" has been scheduled to go to Planning Commission on October 11, 2006 for the second public hearing in which the Commissioners will issue their vote on the project. This period allows for the public to review the EIR and any documentation describing the project. Then, the project will be reviewed in a public hearing by the City Council on November 1st., 2006. The project has received positive feedback from the media as well as many citizens of Palm Springs.Brian Linnekens (representative of The South Palm Canyon LLC) Escalante Architects, TKD and Associates, MSA Consulting Engineers and Land Planners and O2 Architects are grateful for your support.

ESCALANTE ARCHITECTS was just published in CALIFORNIA Home + Design magazine, under the title "TEN TO WATCH - THESE FIRMS - EACH WITH EXCITING PROJECTS ON THE BOARDS AND UNIQUE APPROACH TO MODERN DESIGN - ARE POISED TO MAKE THEIR MARK ON CALIFORNIA ARCHITECTURE IN THE COMING YEAR" Article by Lydia Lee.
Projects highlighted include The AROH School in Uganda, East Africa, "The Palm Canyon Mixed-Use Project" and the conversion of the former Albert Frey Gas Station into the Palm Springs Visitor Center.
Check us on page 90.