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Charles Laurence Martin
1940 - 2020
Charles Laurence Martin was born in Peoria, Illinois
January 30, 1940 and moved with his family to
Bellingham, Washington at a young age. His first
business venture at age 15 was The Lake Whatcom
Piledriving Co. which he started with a friend, building
their own barge and driving pile for the docks during
the summer months. Charlie's work ethic, ingenuity, and
unconventional thinking earned him an architectural
diploma at the
University of Washington
in 1962. Upon graduating he was one of the 24 graduating
American architects selected to attend a
seminar/workshop with Paolo Soleri in Scottsdale in
1964. After graduation, instead of waiting to be drafted
into the US Army; he opted to join voluntarily and
applied to Officer Candidate's School, Airborne School
and Ranger Training, knowing that Vietnam was in his
path. Charlie was the only member of his OCS class that
received the prestigious assignment to Ranger School,
under the command of the famous Major Charlie Beckwith,
as an instructor in the tropical camp where he and his
wife, Shannon, spent a year prior to his departure to
Vietnam in the fall of 1966. He had reached his goal. He
arrived in Vietnam as 1st Lieutenant Army Advisor to a
Vietnamese Ranger Battalion. Not an ordinary battalion,
but the 36th ARVN Ranger Battalion, headed by Major Ahn.
He was cited and awarded two
Bronze Stars,
with Oak Leaf Cluster for Valor and the prevention of
the overrun of his Company. He was also the recipient of
the
Purple Heart
during his service in Viet Nam. The entire time Charlie
served in Country he was in the jungles, proving his
warrior ethos, fighting alongside Vietnamese Soldiers
outfitted only with
WWII
era equipment and weaponry. During his time in the
military, he forged the deepest connections with friends
that would be in his life to the end.
He returned to the Northwest to open his first
architectural office and concentrated primarily on
commissions for private residences. In 1969, his design
was chosen for the 20 story medical office headquarters
of the Saint Frances Cabrini Tower, a structure which is
still considered a landmark of the Seattle skyline.
Martin moved to Southern California four years later,
where a variety of commercial and residential design
projects had evidenced an increasing concern for energy
conservation; his widely acclaimed Williamson house was
this country's first privately funded solar heated and
cooled structure. Charlie can also be blamed for
initiating the proliferation of adobe style houses
throughout the valley, which he affectionately referred
to as "Ranch Burgers".
Energy efficiency and innovative, functional design had
likewise become Martin trademarks on an impressive
number of commercial and residential projects which he
had planned, designed, and/built throughout the Palm
Springs area. In his later years, he formed Narkweather
Architects. For a good look at his personality please go
to
Narkweather.net,
it's worth it. As funny as it seems, Charlie, our
pragmatic, pantheist spirit spent the last 20 years
designing structures that took your eyes to the heavens:
The Saint George Greek Orthodox church, The Saint
Garabed Armenian Apostolic Church of the Desert, and the
enigmatic concrete structure you may glimpse on a drive
up Hwy 74, with his final design ending on the Rancho
Mirage Observatory. We find it appropriate that he went
from the earth to the heavens in this lifetime. We are
sure he is continuing to build his dream.
In lieu of flowers - go make something better!
His legacy continues through his two wild children, Erin
and Walker Martin and his two granddaughters Ava Danger
and Lauren Grace.
"On March 29, 2005 the first day I
met Charlie I knew we would be a friends forever. It is
true that we have sustained a shock and a great loss by
his passing, but the memories will last forever. His
many architectural designs are on display around the
valley to remind us he will always be with us. His
sense of humor kept me laughing all these years.
Summing up Charlie in a few words is very hard to do,
but I will try. Charles Martin was “A Proud American,
Friend, and a True Gentleman.”
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/charles-martin-obituary?pid=196167676
https://obituaries.desertsun.com/obituaries/thedesertsun/obituary.aspx?n=charles-laurence-martin&pid=196167676
Goldstein, O’Malley, Melendez and
Chang
(appearances may be deceiving)
Narkweather Architects’ Incorporated, is comprised of
four unheard of, and probably to remain so,
architects/fishermen/woman. They have no “mission
statement”, not a “chess master” amongst them, and are
not even household names. .They listen to their client’s
wants, needs and dreams which becomes the “mission,” as
no two clients are alike. The Gang of Four (no, not that
Gang of Four) is also cognizant of today’s “green
scramble”, along with the adroitly dropped catchwords’
(in English, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Irish, Spanish,
Italian, and Hebrew) i.e., sustainable, eco friendly,
recyclable, LEED, organic, and their favorite, (who
makes this stuff up??) “environmentally friendly
synthetics”. The Narkweather principals have for the
most part eschewed the fads and hot topics, and relied
on their “oh so pedestrian motto”, of “common sense”
(handed down from some lost race). The following four
projects (four only due to potential reader ADD) are
examples of bringing to fruition the wants, needs and
dreams of their clients. Three structures have been
performing for years and one is still under
construction. An Armenian church, and a Pasadena
residence are dying to be included on the site.
WARNING: this site has been determined by the
California State Board of Architectural Licensing to be
misleading, and a threat to cogent thinking and one’s
attention to details. There is only one licensed
architect in the mix, while the four principals are
merely pigments of the architect’s imagination. When
delving into a new project, the architect sometimes
channels one of the Principals, and his sister in-law, a
Hollywood make- up artist does the magic for press
releases /photo shoots/whatever.
Rancho Mirage Observatory
Under construction
Click here for Progress Updates
CLICK ON THE IMAGES BELOW
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON EACH PROJECT |
