AFC? not with this attitude

May 2, 2013 by dbrds

In case you missed it, former San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders was on NBC San Diego’s ‘Politically Speaking’ segment last saturday afternoon with Gene Cubbison. While the segment itself was fine, there was one particular quote that had us here at DBRDS scratching our heads thinking ‘did he just say that, so care-free, like there is just nothing we can do about it’? Its not so much what the former Mayor said, we deal with it everyday in our profession, […]

Categories: media • Tags: California, community, DBRDS, Jerry Sanders, leaders, Mayor, NBC San Diego, San Diego

102 el cortez

April 26, 2013 by dbrds

Mavrix Equity Vice President & Co-founder Erin Wicomb came to DBRDS in 2011 with an opportunity to help him redesign a 1,000sqft+, 1 bedroom, 2 bathroom New York style loft that he had recently purchased in the Historic El Cortez building of downtown San Diego. The existing space was rather bare & predictable. The original beige kitchen cabinetry remained with the dated white appliance package. Oversized air conditioning ducts running through the space with no consideration of placement, while a highlight […]

Categories: design, photography • Tags: California, Darren Bradley, DBRDS, Design, Downtown San Diego, Equity, Erin Wicomb, Historic El Cortez, Loft, Mavrix, New York Style Loft, San Diego, Space

idea: reclaim balboa 2015

April 12, 2013 by dbrds

Over the past 12 months I have invited a solid group of local designers into the DBRDS office for random Friday afternoon design dialogs. For full disclosure, I often entice this group of very busy designers into the our studio by offering a ‘tasting of sorts’, sometimes with beer, other times with whiskey, & so on. Either way, my intent is always to spark an interesting dialog for ideas in San Diego. What generally happens is we all get fired […]

Categories: design • Tags: Balboa Park, Balboa Stadium, Craig Howard, David McCullough, DBRDS, Design, El Prado, Howard Blackson, James Brown, Master Plan, Plaza de Panama, San Diego, TEDxAFC, United States, UrbDeZine, Vicki Estrada

503 el cortez

March 27, 2013 by dbrds

Sasha Favelukis (Partner of Sequoian Hard Money Lenders) came to DBRDS in late 2012 with a project in the Historic El Cortez building in downtown San Diego. Sasha had recently purchased a 600+sqft 1 bedroom + 1 bathroom condominium located on the north-west corner of the building on the 5th floor. With fantastic views across downtown towards the San Diego bay & an overwhelming ‘beige on beige’ existing color scheme we set about measuring the space for the redesign – […]

Categories: construction, design, furniture, photography • Tags: 503, Bing Crosby, Darren Bradley, DBRDS, Design, Downtown San Diego, Dwight D. Eisenhower, El Cortez, Elvis Presley, Gerald Ford, Heather Eves, Hold It Home, interior, Ivan Rimanic, Lyndon B. Johnson, modern, Pacific Design & Construction, Pacific Drapery, Pauly De Bartolo, San Diego, Sasha Favelukis, Sequoian, Urban Lighting

La Jolla Historical Society – Young Architects Summer Camp

March 26, 2013 by dbrds

For the second year running, the La Jolla Historical Society is hosting its ‘Young Architect’s Summer Camp’ in July 2013. Continuing her leadership role is local Architect Laura DuCharme-Conboy (who also sits on the Advisory Board for the NewSchool of Architecture & Design) joined by Pauly from DBRDS. The Summer Camp starts the week of July 15-19 for Middle School students, following into the week of July 22-26 for High School students. Activities will include hand sketching (1-point & 2-point), […]

Categories: construction, design, photography • Tags: Camps, DBRDS, Google Sketchup, High School, La Jolla, La Jolla Historical Society, Laura DuCharme-Conboy, Middle School, NSAD, Pauly De Bartolo, San Diego, SDAF, Summer Camp

Beneath The Moon II: Journey Through The City

March 11, 2013 by dbrds

In case you didn’t know, the San Diego Museum of Art (recently partners with the San Diego Architectural Foundation for the recent ‘Let’s Talk About Building Together’ talk) is currently hosting an exhibit called ‘Beneath the Moon II: Journey Through The City’, an interactive sculptural art piece by Miquel Navarro, originally commissioned by the Center Pompidou in Paris, France. Fun for kiddies & adults alike to place with elements of the built environment…go check it out!

Categories: design • Tags: California, DBRDS, France, Paris, San Diego, San Diego Museum of Art, SDAF, United States

reviving the original San Diego Farmer’s Market; we gave it a shot.

February 25, 2013 by dbrds

Before San Diego’s original Farmer’s Market Building in Sherman Heights was converted into another ‘big-box’ store, dbrds was invited by Robb Frye, previously of the Grubb Ellis Realty team to collaborate on a design concept to reinvigorate & readapt this iconic building. After years of neglect, where the original vendors have since long gone – replaced with hard working but small Mexican food & goods stalls, together with railway & shipping that once served the building, it was in dire need of […]

Categories: design, photography • Tags: Barrio Logan, DBRDS, Farmers Market, Grubb Ellis, Logan Heights, Pike Place, Reading Terminal, San Diego

J. Shonk…a photographer inspired.

January 22, 2013 by dbrds

8:20pm, January 22nd, 2013. Its a random Tuesday night & I have just finished a great dinner with Lisa (the wifey) & Teddy (the older brother that adopted me 8 years ago), & with a glass of Chilean white wine in hand & I am feeling super inspired to get into some work. Set up on the couch with Sportscenter on the TV, I am locked into my zone about to get into it & out of nowhere I receive […]

Categories: photography • Tags: DBRDS, Google, San Diego, San Diego Architectural Foundation, Sportscenter, Texaco, Tuesday, United States

Richard Meier’s San Diego Court House Building, by Darren Bradley Photography

January 19, 2013 by dbrds

To celebrate the birthday of San Diego’s most passionate architectural photographer, we would like to share his most recent photos of Richard Meier‘s first building, the San Diego Court House. It’s fair to say that we here at DBRDS are massive fans of Richard Meier. Ivan & I have collected multiple books on his work, we have spent hours visiting, photographing & discussing the planning, details, forms, filtered light, spaces, connections, materiality, etc of his projects; we are without a […]

Categories: construction, design, photography • Tags: California, Darren Bradley, DBRDS, photography, Richard Meier, San Diego, United States

Orchids & Onions, it’s a wrap…

November 9, 2012 by dbrds

While this blog may a little late following the successful 2012 Orchids & Onions Award’s Ceremony & Silent Auction almost a month ago, it’s taken me some time to carefully consider how to best articulate my appreciation & put together an all positive ‘thank you’ to the tremendous team of volunteer’s who made it all possible. This is experience for me, as crazy at it was throughout the preparations, was phenomenal on many levels, & I don’t take lightly how […]

Categories: design, photography • Tags: Board of Directors, California, Catherine Herbst, Chris Puzio, Darren Bradley, DBRDS, Greg Strangman, Kinsee Morlan, Marcie Harris, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Nathan Lee Colkitt, ORCHID & ONION, PREZI, Robin Wilson Carrier, San Diego, San Diego Architectural Foundation, SDAF