Thursday, July 28, 2011

The kinda guy the Art Jury should have...

So as most of you know, I've been pretty critical of the PVE Art Jury given some of the architectural monstrocities they've allowed to be built in recent times.  The original PV planners back in the 20s had assumed the Art Jury would be comprised of esteemed architects - internationally renowned folks who were leaders in their field and styles.    Guys like John Galen Howard, famous for the Beaux Arts style of buildings of the Berkeley campus and Myron Hunt with notable structures all through Southern California (notably Pasadena).  While I'd suspect that most of the current Art Jury members do have solid architectural credentials (in fact, why don't they have their bios on the PVE or PVHA website?), I suspect their work would not stack up to the critique of their industry leading peers in the same way that their forebearers' work from the 20s/30s would.  In my daytime hobby as a reader of architectural mags and blogs, I did come across one great architect that's done some amazing Spanish work in SoCal.  Kevin A Clark. His designs, penned by hand and not by some fancy schmancy computer CAD software, look like timeless works of art - and the ultimate product, the home, look as though they were built a century ago.

He, as a general matter, isn't very prolific in the amount of homes he pens - designing only a handful of homes per year as I understand it (unlike Tomaro and Leach, for example, who each pen 25-35+ homes per year).  Check out some of his work here:

 (Source: Kevin A Clark Inc)
 (Source: Kevin A Clark Inc)
 (Source: Kevin A Clark Inc)
 (Source: Google Maps)
 (Source: Kevin A Clark Inc)
 (Source: Kevin A Clark Inc)


I wish he'd do some work on the Hill.  PV could use his talent!  If you're interested in more info, check out his Facebook page (he doesn't have a website): http://www.facebook.com/KevinAClarkInc

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't think he is a licensed Architect so he couldn't be on the Art Jury.

Homes of Palos Verdes said...

That's interesting - I know there are several "home designers" that aren't licensed architects but still do some great work.

Elle said...

I love the designs! I'm a sucker for spanish architect!

Greg said...

Thanks for passing along his Facebook page... I couldn't find him on the web, which is now easy to see why.

Unknown said...

Thank you for sharing Kevin's work.
~Erika
Assistant to Kevin A. Clark

Ariel said...

The value of "penned" architecture accents his true ability to craft such fine work.