June 8, 2006
Sometimes you just get lucky. I’m always late for the first day of the AIA Convention, and this morning was no exception; you know it’s just hard to trade a morning lounging around one’s fabulous room at the Biltmore for the rigors of the Los Angeles Convention Center. But, as I headed onto the street a bright golden flash caught my eye, and lo and behold, out of the shadows stepped my old pal Antoine Predock. And the dude’s got the old bling bling on—you know what I mean—it’s the Gold Medal, man. Okay, okay. It’s not like the dude wears it around ALL the time; he’s heading over to the convention hall, where he was to be introduced rock-star style to several thousand of his admirers. We shoot the breeze for a couple minutes, and when his limo pulls up he says, “hey forget about the bus, hop in, I’ll give you a lift.”
What a guy. Now, look, getting a ride over to the convention center would be lucky enough to make my day, but that’s NOT WHAT I MEANT. In my humble opinion Antoine has got to be about the nicest quote-unquote “star” architect who ever lived (we go back awhile), and he’s got talent to burn. If you haven’t checked out some of his recent work, especially the unbuilt stuff, stop wasting time and click on his site. I mean, the guy’s a legend, hey, he’s in Wikipedia, and he’s going over to the convention in a baseball cap (of course, it’s an Antoine Predock baseball cap), but honestly, what other Gold Medal winner would do that?
Charles Linn, FAIA, Deputy editor
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