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Wilt and Dave:
Client and Architect
In the Beginning… It was quite by accident that I met and became the Architect for the great
competitor, Wilton Norman Chamberlain.
A
friend of mine, Gary Morris, had been given the task of finding a site for
Wilt to build on; and Gary asked me if I had any idea where a really good
hilltop parcel might exist.
I
said no, but would be happy to provide my services, for the cost of time
and such.Wilt agreed to retain me, and after renting a helicopter and
scouring the Santa Monica mountains for open space, I found a big plot of
land the had once been a Nike missile site during the cold war. It was a
deal and Wilt had a place to build.
Wilt
and I had, in the course of all this become friends, and I felt a real
sense of connection and
honest friendship with the Big Man. He was in my office one day when all
the dust had settled and quite offhanded he said, “Hey! do you want to
be my architect “? I replied, “ why not,” and the project was on its
way.
Ü
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No
Squares for Wilt…
It is a truly a great and special thing to be an Architect, and I feel
blessed to have this as a life work.The challenge and task is always to
look for a new and exciting statement that reflects the uniqueness of the
client, and fits the use of project. I have always believed the greatest
source of inspiration for a special project is a special Client, and Wilt
was the perfect catalyst for a new and different work.
The
first task in a new project, aside from the basics of what rooms and
spaces are needed, is to determine the geometry that fits the client and
use.
We
went out to the site, which has a breathtaking view out to the Pacific,
and I drew shapes in the dirt, and Wilt stood inside each one. A square, a
circle and a triangle were tested. I said “Wilt, this is your house,
which one feels right for you”? The triangle was where Wilt felt
immediately comfortable, and basis of the project was defined.
There
is not an Architect alive who has not in some way been influenced by the
great Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and it was his concept of organic development of scheme out of a single
geometric shape, that was the wellsping for the geometric and decorative nature
of the final work. Ü
(click below for more)
Sized
for the Real World…
A Stand of Redwoods…
Ursa Major: The Big Dipper
The
Plan Checker Said, "I Give Up!"…
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