Author: Mark Alexander

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To Absent Friends…

As I’ve grown older, the list of absent friends continues to grow, and while not all of them are AIDS-related at this point, on every December 1st, I remember them all…


Kent Kelly

Floyd Meeks


Ken Cohen


Steve Golden


Dennis Shelpman

Rick Ashworth aka Miss KC Dare

Jeffrey Laughlin


Jim Hagen


Chuck Krahe


Michael Nelson
Jim Nye


Kevin Ohm


Rick King


Ron Aiazzi


Grant Neilsen


Ric Hathaway


David Koston


Kim Holstein


Jerry Straughn


Fred Sibinic


Russ Alvarez


Ken Borg


Marty Kamner

John Trapp


Harold Gates


Peter Whitman


Scott Woods

Bobby Farina
Brian Lea
Chuck Mayer
Richard Gulliver
Jim Girard
Keith Roseberry
Tom Farrel
Ben Walzer
Steve McCollom
Philip Ruckdeschel

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The Mason House

Built in 1962, this Modernist home in Los Angeles was designed by architect Carl Maston as his personal residence. Because of the steeply sloping site, the swimming pool had to be placed in the front—cleverly hidden from the street by a walled embankment.

A USC graduate, Maston went on to design more than 100 buildings across Southern California, each showcasing his inventive, livable approach to modern design.

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Casa Praxis, Mexico (1975) by Agustín Hernández Navarro

Brutalist icon

Agustín Hernández constructed his architectural office in Mexico City like a tree. Access to the building erected in the early 1970s is via a gangplank.

by Carsten Krohn | 12/20/2018

When asked what inspired him to create this building, Agustín Hernández replies: “The pre-Columbian architecture of Mexico.” He speaks softly and exudes happiness. The path through the building is dramatic and accessing it is not hazard-free, as the gangplank is built without a railing and there is thus a drop of several meters either side. The metal entrance gate slides into the wall in a manner distinctly inspired by sci-fi, and then up spring-mounted steps visitors reach a cavernous room with the same concrete surfaces found on the exterior. Models that look more like sculptures than houses are scattered throughout the space. Hernández explains the architecture of a military academy with the aid of one of these. He built the facility in reference to the monumental pyramid cities of Chichén Itzá, Monte Albán and Teotihuacán. He points out how a pyramid-shaped structure forms the end point of an axis one kilometer in length. The abstract mega-structure appears at once archaic and futuristic. [more]

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