news

Zach & Matias are gone back to school, they just left a few minutes ago and I am already missing them. Guys, I know you worked hard throughout the summer and became an integral part of our office family. Thanks for the hard work... I expect to see you at the office at least twice a week, picking up where you lef off. Just a few urban legends you need to know I shared with my Sofia and my Lourdes about you.

1. Matias, since you were always hooked up to your earphones, I said to Sofia that you were a "make believe" big kid, that you were not real and that is why you had to be plugged-in to a socket otherwise you would deflate... thus, she looked at you suspiciously all the time.

2. Zack, I got you at a film-festival fair, a webkinz sort of speak, a character of "The Incredibles" but upon my request you wore civilian clothes to work. Then they understood your passion for animation, because you come from the virtual world.

You guys were terrible, unruly and unapologetically brilliant!!!! I did not want to hire you and you stalked me throughout the whole year at school... and you see, I was right, I should not have hired you because I knew it was going to be hard for me to say good bye...

In retrospect I dont think I ever formally offered you a job... you just showed up to work!!!! At any rate, I will see you at school and please keep spreading the rumors about how tough we are... so only the ones who have the courage to be great architects claw their way through the brick wall. Thank you guys...

Be well, Ana

Thanks Jennifer for the wonderful trail run at 6:00 pm. I had so much fun and as usual the endorphins kicked in and well, the rest is history... a joy to be able to put one foot in front of the other and take in the healing power of the sunset, the cloudy sky, mountains and city ligths and most importantly sharing all of it. Like Odilo, my old coach says, "what is said in the run, stays in the run". Well, Jennifer, you are one of us, and next time I am in Idyllwild, you will certaintly be part of our group of friends at "Cafe Aroma". You know how fun that is... specially under a full moon.

This morning, my friend Alex and I ran the Likkens trail while the full moon was still on. As a certified "night owl" it was hard for me to get my bones to the meeting place. Everyone who was supposed to meet us bailed out, but Alex and I enjoyed the solitude and beauty of an early run. We even met a hiker who was trekking and chatted for a while. Two hours on a trail, just taking everything in. Afterwards, Alex treated me to my favorite brew, a cup of Salvadorean coffee, "La Montana" at Koffy and we walked back to our cars not before meeting a nice developer who is doing a wonderful project in Las Palmas. We talked about what keeps us going "an unapologetic optimism about our craft and the future"... perhaps the endorphins from the 8 mile run got chilvarous, but I was happy and ready to take on the world after the run... Thank you God, for allowing me to discover happiness in the unexpected places and hearts.

"Trends in Residential Architecture - The Ideas that are Driving the Market", under the subheading "Green Multihousing - The Towers in Palm Springs by Escalante Architects, is a beautiful piece written by Stephanie Aurora Lewis. It was published in BuilderNews Magazine, September edition. The link is
http://www.buildernewsmag.com/viewnews.pl?id=1031
you need to navigate through the on-line mag til you get to page 22, where she states, "The units are designed for young families, single people and the elderly who need a dignified place to live, which is elegant, efficient and affordable".
Thanks to all the team-members who made this project possible, from the client, Ann Krizman, my former partner Lance O'Donnell, the contractor Hal Hall, but most importantly Martin Brunner who I know grew a few grey hairs (or lost...that is a matter of debate) by ensuring that the original idea stayed true to itself til the bitter end... and always obsessing about the most economical, rational and elegant solution. Me? I just thought about what it should be... interlocking guns maximizing the density of the site, while providing a quality of space that one can only absorb throughout all of our senses... I could live in one of the units, hands down...

Finally, the library design came out of my soul. This is a most refined image of Rhino model whose author Zach has been trying to capture the slenderness and lyrical nature of the design. The struggle is to put it on paper and do it righ and "once" so the systems can be seamlessly integrated. A task that can bring anyone to their knees.

My new toy... could not pass it up!!!! Oh well, it is cool and the bluetooth works!!!! Had to let my LR3 go to a better Owner..

Here is one of our latest projects in Africa, designed with the idea of the site and views in mind. Please Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCOfyXaKWZI

Thanks Lourdes for flying from El Salvador to keep us company these days, I know I was not the best hostess, but you were the most gracious guest. Hope to see you soon.
Thanks Alex for teaming up with me so we can nail the LA Marathon in March. Our long run on Sunday was magnificent. Tomorrow we must follow the program if we are to stand a chance to finish it with a smile, plus we need to start searchitng for 5K and whatever the program says.
All and all, it has been a great holiday!!!!
Thanks to the gang, Cliff, Zach, Matias Peter and everyone.