BACKGROUND

I was born in Guadalajara, Mexico and raised in Los Angeles, California. I received an A.A. Degree from ELAC, Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cal Poly Pomona, and a Master of Arts in Architecture degree from UCLA. I have practiced architecture over thirty years on numerous projects, from small scale projects to large museums, including five years on the Getty Center with Richard Meier. During the past years I have primarily focused on teaching design and visual communications as an instructor at Art Center College of Design, Woodbury University, and now as a full-time professor at East Los Angeles College for the past 20 years. Besides teaching, I am also active as a residential designer and developer in Los Angeles. 

SKETCHING

These sketches were started in 1984, during my first backpacking trip to Europe. Stopping at all the major cities and architectural sites, following the historical example of architects traveling and sketching after completing one’s studies. As much as time allows, whenever I have traveled since, sketching has become a natural activity of my journey’s discovery and memory. I begin the sketch on site, spending one to two hours, then photographing the view I am sketching and continuing to sketch while on the road. Waiting in lines, and the next transportation means sketching has been a productive and fulfilling way to pass the time recalling the beauty of each building I've encountered on the journey. 

ARCHITECTURE

To appreciate architecture on one level, is to have some understanding of how the vision of one person’s creativity and the labor of craftsmen, tell a story, not just the individual but also the story of a civilization and its cultural imprint in the world. The architecture here, represents some of the values that express the history of Western civilization. These buildings also shape us in that they are embedded in the recesses of our personal and collective memory and serve as a reminder of who we are as individuals and how are lives have unfolded in their presence. Sharing these allow me to retell not only my experiences but also the joy in witnessing the creativity of the human spirit through architecture.