The Architects 
Architect Overview
Architect Overview
Firm Profile Escher GuneWardena’s work has been published nationally and internationally and has received numerous awards. They were one of six architectural firms included in the 2003 National Design Triennial, an overview of current American design. In 2004 they were selected to design the Dwell Home II, a prototype for a sustainable house. They have recently been invited to be part of the 2006 exhibition OPEN HOUSE: Intelligent Living by Design, organized jointly by the Vitra Design Museum (Weil am Rhein, Germany) and Art Center College of Design (Pasadena) to explore the topic of the future house in relation to digital technologies. Escher GuneWardena’s work addresses issues of sustainability, affordability and the dialogue between form and construction. They seek to establish simple formal manifestations of the complexities of each project, investigating the sublimated characteristics intrinsic to the work itself. Located in the United States, Canada, and in Europe, their work ranges from residential to commercial, master planning and institutional projects. Residential projects include new construction, (such as the Jamie residence in Pasadena, a 2000 square foot house lofted on two concrete towers above its precipitous site), as well as work on historic structures, (such the recent restoration of the Chemosphere in Los Angeles for the German publishers Benedikt and Angelika Taschen.) The firm’s interest in contemporary art has led to various collaborations with artists and art related projects; including a series of museum installations in the US and Europe for artist Sharon Lockhart’s most recent work “Pine Flat,” and the new gallery spaces for Blum & Poe Los Angeles. In the summer of 2005, artist Olafur Eliasson converted the firm’s Jamie Residence in Pasadena into an art installation for the first project in Emi Fontana Gallery’s “West of Rome series.”. Currently Escher GuneWardena is collaborating with artist Mike Kelley on his contribution to “Sculpture Projects Muenster 07”. Frank Escher grew up in Switzerland and studied Architecture at the ETH (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule) Zürich. He is the editor of the monograph “John Lautner, Architect,” serves on the Board of Directors of the John Lautner Foundation, and has lectured extensively on Lautner’s work in the United States and abroad. Currently, he is co-curating with historian Nicholas Olsberg the first major Lautner exhibition, scheduled to open in June 2008 at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. Mr. Escher has served as president, and is currently on the advisory board of the Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design. Ravi GuneWardena, originally from Sri Lanka, was trained at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and spent a year studying Art and Architectural History in Florence Italy. He currently serves on the Hollywood Public Art Advisory Panel for the CRA. Mr. Escher and Mr. GuneWardena have lectured on their work in various forums, including The Cooper Hewitt National Design Conference, The San Diego AIA, the 2006 Architectural League’s “Emerging Voices” series, (National Building Museum, Washington D.C., and The Urban Center, New York), and at Cal Poly Pomona, where they have both maintained posts as visiting faculty. Publications
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