Category Archives: Words and Pictures

POTTERY LOVE

ASHTRAY 1963 GLEN HOWARD SMALL, ARCHITECT SORRY ABOUT THE DUST ON ORIGINAL SLIDES

IN 1963 MY WIFE JOANNE AND I VISITED PAOLO SOLERI OUTSIDE PHOENIX AT COSANTI. PAOLO HAD A BIG SPREAD IN FORUM MAGAZINE AND I WAS DRAWN TO HIS WORK. SOLERI AND HIS BEAUTIFUL WIFE (THAT LOOKED AFTER HIS WELFARE OF DEALING WITH THE PRACTICAL THINGS IN LIFE) MADE A PROFOUND AFFECT ON MY LIFE. THEY WERE LIVING IN A SMALL RANCH STYLE HOUSE ON A FEW ACREAS OUTSIDE SCOTTSDALE ARIZONA WHICH HE NAMED COSANTI. BUILDING EXOTIC EARTH MOUND BUILDINGS FREE OF CLIENTS. ANOTHER BLOG ON PAOLO. ONE OF HIS WAYS OF GENERATING MONEY WAS TO MAKE BELLS. IN FACT I CAN SEE A SOLERI BELL EVERY DAY HANGING AT THE ENTRY OF MY MONUMENT HOUSE NEXT DOOR HERE IN OREGON, THAT IS NOW POSSESSED BY NEW OWNERS. ANOTHER BLOG. Continue reading →

HONG KONG PEAK

THE HONG KONG PEAK COMPETITION 1982. GLEN HOWARD SMALL AND JOE MADA ARCHITECTS,  ASSISTED BY RALPH MURSINNA, SUHEIL SHATARA, ERIC CHAVKIN, PAT KONRAD, AND CHARLIE BROWN.

 

GLEN HOWARD SMALL AND JOE MADA. HONG KONG PEAK COMPETITION 1982

RECENTLY THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF INTEREST IN CARGO CONTAINERS AND ALL THE POSSIBILITIES THEY CAN DO,  PLUS A NUMBER OF BUILT EXAMPLES. Continue reading →

STANDING ON THE CORNER

I AM NOT A JOINER, OTHER THAN THE AIA WHICH I DID YEARS AGO , BECAUSE WHEN I WAS A REGISTERED CALIFORNIA ARCHITECT AT SCI-ARC THE ACCOUNTANT,AFTER KNOWING ME FOR YEARS ASKED, ” WHEN WAS I GOING TO BE AN ARCHITECT?” I REPLIED, WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT? HER RESPONSE WAS YOU ARE NOT AN AIA.  IN OTHER WORDS BEING IN HER MIND AN ARCHITECT MEANT YOU WERE AN AIA. JOHN LAUTNER WAS AN AIA AND I ASKED HIM WHY HE HAD JOINED. HE SAID TO GET THE AWARDS. WHICH THE AIA GAVE HIM ON A REGULAR BASIS. ERIC MOSS AND I JOINED THE AIA AT THE SAME TIME. ERIC I AM SURE GETS AWARDS, I GOT MAYBE TWO WHILE BERNARD ZIMMERMAN WAS ALIVE. HE KNEW MY TALENT AND WHISPERED IN OTHER PEOPLE’S EARS.

STANDING ON THE CORNER TALKING TO MY BUDDY ENGINEER. PHOTO BY YASMINA DEDIJER-SMALL

ALL A MOOT POINT FOR ME, SINCE I AM OF AN AGE WHERE THE AIA LETS ME BE A FREE MEMBER, BUT THEY STILL DO NOT GIVE ME AWARDS. I THOUGHT WHEN ONE IS CLOSE TO DYING, AND NO THREAT TO ANYONE, THEY GIVE YOU AWARDS. NOT SO WITH ME YET, SO MAYBE I AM STILL A THREAT AND I HAVE A FEW MORE YEARS TO LIVE.
Continue reading →

DRAWING MYSTIC

IT ALL STARTED OUT WITH MY FIRST HOUSE THAT I DREW THAT LOOKED LIKE AN IGLOO WITH A CAT GOING UP THE SIDE.

THE FIFTH GRADE WHERE I WAS SELECTED TO DO A MURAL OF THE SPANISH EXPLORATION OF AMERICA. I NEVER COULD MAKE THE FIGURES LOOK RIGHT, WHERE AS JERRY THE CLASS ARTIST COULD DRAW ANYTHING, I THINK HE ENDED UP AT ART CENTER AND THEN ON TO THE FLINTSTONES . MY RESEARCH WITH MY GRADE SCHOOL CRONIES AT WEST WOOD GRAMMAR SCHOOL, DENNIS AND TOM, PRODUCED ONLY JERRY’S FIFTH GRADE CLASS PICTURE. THE POINT BEING DRAWING REALISTIC OBJECTS TO A LARGE DEGREE IS IN THE GENES, SURE YOU CAN LEARN IT LIKE ME, BUT THE BLESSED ONES WITH THE NATURAL TALENT ARE THE REAL ARTISTS.

UNIVERSITY OF OREGON REQUIRED SOME LIFE DRAWING AND I TOOK IT AT UCLA ONE SUMMER. I WAS QUITE GOOD AND CAPTURED THE AGING OF MY FATHER JUST BEFORE HE DIED.

AT OREGON DRAWING WAS HARD FOR ME, IT WAS ALL SO TORTURED AND STIFF. BUT WHEN I GOT IN ARCHITECTURAL OFFICES I REALIZED TO SELL MY WILD IDEAS I HAD BETTER START TO LEARN THE CRAFT OF DRAWING TO PITCH MY IDEAS. I GOT SERIOUS, BUT STILL JUST DREW THE PEOPLE FROM THE BACK, BECAUSE IT WAS TOO DIFFICULT DRAWING FACES. I WAS WORKING IN ALAMEDA CALIF. ON TEMPORARY LOAN FROM ANOTHER ARCHITECT IN A ONE MAN OFFICE THAT WAS PITCHING SOME CIVIC BUILDING. I WAS DRAWING PEOPLE FROM THE REAR AGAIN AND THE PRINCIPLE SUGGESTED I COPY THEM OUT OF MAGAZINES OR THE PAPER. THAT WAS ALL SO FOREIGN, COPYING, STEALING SOMEBODY’S ELSES SKETCHES. TO MY AMAZEMENT IT WAS EASY TO DO, AND IN NO TIME I HAD A FOLDER OF PEOPLE AND ANIMALS THAT I USED TO TRACE FROM.

RENDERING BY HOWARD BACKEN AND GLEN SMALL 1965

Continue reading →