Back in Black

Do not mistake this as a reference to our dynamic, um flexible, unstable economy, but rather to the fact that I’m back in New York in my architecture uniform.  Work, teaching, and blogging shall resume.

Given that Monday was the first day of fall, I hope that everyone enjoyed their summers.  It was also my first day back from the perfect weather of SoCal to the cool reality of New York City.  In some ways, this was a relief from the traffic congestion of LA.  In others, a return to the comfort of the convenient and familiar.  The grass is always greener, I suppose.

Although the lazy days at pool and ocean side are not the only reasons for my refreshed vigor.  Along the way, I visited the Salk Institute by Louis Kahn, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels by Rafael Moneo, and the gardens of the Getty Center by Laurie Olin.  Borrowing the words of Tadao Ando upon his visit to the Salk Institute, “I am renewed.”

[Courtesy of my travel partner at Life After Architecture.]

For now, though, I leave you with some landscape photographs from my trip, and in the following days I will post images from the buildings and garden mentioned above.

The trip began north of San Diego with a lot of driving through La Jolla and UCSD’s campus.  This left me wondering why I didn’t give this school more thought.

[Courtesy of my travel partner at Life After Architecture.]

Not to mention the standard kayak trip through the Seven Sea Caves.

[Courtesy of my travel partner at Life After Architecture.]

For some reason we tend to find ourselves driving a lot on vacation.  Perhaps, this has more to do with the fact we are car-less New Yorkers pining for a joy ride.  On many of our drives, the landscape generally alternated between the following:

Overpriced suburbs within a lush landscape…

Empty, hot, and dry countryside…

… and the occasional switchback.

This drive ultimately led us to Palm Desert, also known as a retirement community.  This is where our primary R&R happened poolside.  We figured the best place to do “nothing” was in a community where people golf and tan for a living.

Below you will see the valley where Palm Desert resides.  You can identify it in the background on the left by the dark green area.  Irrigation does wonders for vegetation.

As we were driving into the city, the vegetation changed dramatically.  I imagine this is what it is like arriving into Dubai, only without the skyscrapers.  For reference, the temperature here was 100-110 the entire week.

Most of you may be more familiar with Palm Springs – Palm Desert’s sister city.  Outside of Palm Springs along I-10 is the wildest wind farm I have ever seen, almost creepy in a way.  There were at least 5 different types of wind turbines, of different heights too.  Your entire field of vision, in the valley along the highway, was a kaleidoscope of spinning blades.

[Courtesy of my travel partner at Life After Architecture.]

Equally bizarre, and even more in tune with nature, was Joshua Tree National Park.  When they say this tree only occurs within the National Park, they are fairly literal about it.

It’s an interesting tree that is a branching, palm tree.  Although, as you see below on the left, the fruit left behind after the spring bloom are a little unnerving.  At first they appeared to be a rodent skewer left to dry in the desert for a couple months.

To reiterate how hot and dry it is, the park requires you to bring 2 gallons of water per person per day upon entering the park for camping.  After completing just a 6 mile hike, I wouldn’t want to be caught in any of the park’s valleys without a gallon or two.

Then, the last weekend of the trip we headed back to the Los Angeles area, and were instantly greeted with Friday afternoon gridlock.  The photo below was taken from the Getty Center tram.

Of course, a trip to the Santa Monica Beach…

[Courtesy of my travel partner at Life After Architecture.]

Ultimately, the trip ended at the Adamson House in Malibu, where a good friend of mine was getting married.

[Courtesy of my travel partner at Life After Architecture.]

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