Eternal Flatness

After Palm Springs we headed to Joshua Tree and the Hidden Valley

apparently discovered after an explosionAngelo seemed to like the Joshua trees
he made friendsand shot friendly monsters for his IPG
that kept appearing everywhere
we stopped to check the 29palms inn
loved the lush oasis, but chose a military motel instead

next day,
fuzzy endless descent into Death Valley,
almost hallucinatory
flatness of forever
and ever
the lowest point on the western hemisphere
for hours on end
finally the legendary Zabriskie point, and it all makes sense

somehow
Shpinx
and highway pyramids
the goldness of Mandalay

and the Wynn bronzeness

strange water homes
for green giants

abandoned mines that could have been houses

and houses that look like mines

faraway screens
white cross drugs
towns with funny names

and roads with bizarre but somehow familiar names that eventually take you to

the edge of the western world

Some more Palm Springs

While in PS, Jim took us on a architectural tour of whats great. Here a glimpse of the Kaufmann Housev by Richard Neutra, one of the architectural treasures which recently was renovated (for a rumored 15 mil...
this white walled-in stunner Craig Ellwood
the Albert Frey city hall
and some neighboring Wexler
Though I must admit I was equally, if not more drawn to the weirdness of lesser gems
like this Bank of America styled after Le Corbusier's famous church
which we could not help nicknaming Wrongchamp
or these bizarre rocks that were apparently too natural looking , so they got painted taupe, to fit better in the landscape (it was a wash, not opaque paint so some of the naturalness shows through...)or this cute white-rock facade
and this style that we didn't know how to describe (pizza-hut classic?)

as we hit the freeway, we knew things would get weirder, when we saw ourselves reflected in a truck
we passed cowboy skyscrapers
and stucco pueblo geodomes

snakes to light your wayand dinosaurs with security exits
and welcoming tails

Chez Mr Isermann

Been having the pleasure of staying
at my good friend Jim Isermann's house in Palm Springs
a prefabricated steel house designed by Donald Wexler
Bridget
Angelo
Sunshine swimming pool
Isermann
Panton
Hello sky, hello mountains
lunch

and an unbeatable rock post box

Oscar Sunday

It was Oscar Sunday and we decided to go museum hopping in downtown LA

we stumbled upon California Plaza next to MOCA

post modern belated delirium tremens

with reflected banality

in Chinatown we passed by Grandview gardens

and nylon covered rocks

and as the night drew, we saw weird plant-covered boutiques

and scared pumpkin cats that got no oscars

Found Zenetos

For the longest time I thought I had list this out-of-print book on the great Takis Zenetos

suddenly it appeared behind some other random books at my parents' place
it features some nice shots of the Electronic Urbanism maquete
the legendary project which basically predicted everything from the internet to almost the iphone (1952- eat your heart out Archigram)
the very cute Medrano restaurant project
which I think was never built

and this great drawing of the villa in Glyfada, with the surrounding rock garden


which was of course built but unfortunately demolished a couple years ago

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