Esoteric Survey

Between the holiday and bike camping over the weekend,  I only shopped a little on Friday. I did get a pair of Lemurian Crafts walnut beakers by Reynolds G. Dennis. MoMA has one There it is on the ESU in MoMA Good Design (1951).  If you need a refresher on the Lemurians, read this article by Dave Hampton:  Ancient Modern: Lost Crafts of the Lemurians Vintage photograph of the Phoenix Financial Center, designed by W.A. Sarmiento Books and MoMA cookie cutters from the estate of a local architect ended up at the junk swap. He was active in San Diego between the 1980s through mid-2000s as far as I can tell. He designed the Seaside Market in Cardiff by the Sea. 

     Western Savings, now Souper Salad (1974)  by Wenceslao Alfonso aka W.A. Sarmiento  The Peruvian-born architect studied under Oscar Niemeyer. I'm sure that's no surprise after seeing his work. W.A. spent much of his career building banks for an outfit with the not so original name of Bank Building & Equipment Corp. of America. He landed the job after getting in a car accident with an architect who worked at the company. Phoenix Financial Center (1964-70) by W.A. Sarmiento  This is at the top of the dome above.  Source:  Recent Past That pot bums me out. The original plan called for two towers. Source: Recent Past Oh well. Source:  Recent Past Sadly, these aren't in use anymore.  Sarmiento designed some great banks. This was in New Jersey.   Banks are so boring now.  Read more about him, here .