Three similar but not identical eight-storey buildings, designed for Pico Boulevard, reflect the surrounding commercial and residential areas. The immense scale of the buildings is geared to that of the nearby San Diego Freeway. The shearing effect produced by the exterior walls and interior circulation spaces of this design can be compared to analogous effects in structuralist film-making. The basic structure resembles certain undulating designs by Rem Koolhaas, but its graphically charged surfaces tell quite another story. Denari remarks that most contemporary architecture seems to be stuck in another century.
Few architects have what it takes to cope with current events.
We see no definitive statements about the form of the city anymore, he says, because the city itself is inarticulate. Fixed models have got to make way for procedural models. The question is how to go about building the phenomenon of the city into architecture. Denari has moved beyond a techno-scientific approach to architecture. He s looking for a new aesthetic and for a way to blend real sustainability with his commitment to ecology.