David Montalba

Stacy Shoemarker Rauen: Hi, I am here with David Montalba. David, thanks so much for joining us today. How are you?

David Montalba: I’m great. Thanks for asking.

SSR: Yeah, thanks for being here. All right, so we always start at the beginning. So where did you grow up?

DM: Well, I was born in Florence and grew up mostly in Europe until I was about seven in Switzerland for the most part, which is where my mother’s family’s from. And my father’s family was from the States. And when I was about seven, we moved back to California where his family was originally from to Carmel, which is a small coastal town, Northern California. Pretty amazing place, perhaps more as you’re older. When you’re younger, I think it’s a little hard to appreciate it the same way, but was really fortunate to sort of grow up, I want to say in sort of a semi-rural environment, but also on a coastal town. And feel really fortunate to have had that from when I was about seven to close to 18, and we would spend our summers back in Switzerland. But having the freedom of living in California and riding your bike and playing tennis and running through fields and exploring was really just really empowering and grounding I think in a sense.

And I was a big surfer, so that was my big thing. So I was really close to the ocean and just loved the spirit and the energy that it gave me. And was also fortunate enough to have a neighbor, his name was George Brook-Kothlow, and he was a really, well-known regionalist Mid-century semi… I don’t know, semi very woodsy architect, let’s say. Let’s put it that way. And did a lot of homes in Big Sur and Carmel Valley and was a really great mentor, even for me as a kid, not yet even knowing I was going to want to become an architect. My mother was really into arts, and so the creative sphere was something I was really always around and really learned to appreciate even more as I got a little older.

And anyways, moved to San Diego really following the surf when I was 18 to go to college. And slowly as I dabbled in architecture in school, just felt this sort of kinship with it. My uncle had been an architect in Switzerland and it had always sort of been close to me, my grandfather’s company, it was a big building company in Switzerland, and I always liken it to feeling like if you go to Japan for the first time and you can read the signs, but you never studied Japanese.

And it was just because I had been around it. And so I felt this really strong passion to pursue building and creating. And that sort of picked up as surfing sort of waned for me a little bit in my sort of late teens, 20s. And then really just sort of fell head over heels into architecture about that age and started working for an architect in San Diego.

In fact, before I went to architecture school, just because I wanted to make sure it was the right thing for me, which is way more proactive than I look at myself as being at that age, which is the funniest part. But anyways, and then I went to an architecture program in Venezia in Italy with some really renowned architects, Viol Rats, Todd Williams and Billie Tsien who are still practicing in New York and some others. And then transferred to SCI-Arc in LA. And once I came to LA surfing definitely faded out of my life as I was full-time in pursuing an architectural career. And finished SCI-Arc and went to go work for Frank Gehry for some time and some others here in LA and then pursued graduate school at UCLA in the architecture department. And then started my first practice, which I had for a few years with a partner and then started Montalba Architects in 2004, which is just 20 years, which is pretty amazing. So anyways, that’s a short story.

SSR: I love a short story. And going back, so your mom was an artist, so were you creative as a kid?

DM: I was always in movement, which actually is not much different than my life today. I feel like I was creative in that sense. I wasn’t necessarily the most amazing artist and I wasn’t necessarily the most sort of proactive student, but I was really into making and building and doing and just had that energy within me. And I think that sort of cultivated into my professional career, which people that know me would say, “Hey, you’re still really busy.” And I’d be busy in the desert with two sticks. That’s just my nature.

SSR: And what was it like working for Gehry? What did you learn from that and also from SCI-Arc? I mean, having those two experience must have really shaped who you are today.

DM: Yeah, I think, well, SCI-Arc was great. Before SCI-Arc I had started an architecture school in San Diego, which was much more fundamental and practical, which was actually a really great foundation to then go to SCI-Arc, because I could then push it. So I think SCI-Arc really just opened the spectrum to me to a much sort of wider horizon. And actually the European study that I did, which was a summer abroad, was just as impactful.

And I think, in fact, I was at a lecture that Billie Tsien gave at UCLA just after the pandemic. And I remember ironically, it’s her saying this, because she was my teacher in Venezia, but she talked about what makes us really truly unique as designers. And a lot of it’s the way we see the world. So I think in education, it’s really about exposing ourselves to different ways of seeing the world because ultimately that shapes the way we impact see the world, which is the unique lens that we bring to our work and to our clients and things we make.

So I think all of those things in Frank’s office, even sort of another dimension, no pun intended, helped uncover different opportunities and ways of seeing and making and building. And it’s a very complex practice in our world, particularly because we’re doing architecture and interiors, lots of different things. And so I think the more exposure we have to all these things, I think the more we can help sort of put the pieces together in a way in practice, in our creative practice and also our business, if you want to call what we do business, it’s sort of a mix as you know.

SSR: And how do you think your Swiss roots influenced you as well? 

DM: We do, we do, yeah. And my heart’s always sort of been there. I think I’ve always been closer to that side of my family and we spent summers there and it was just a big part of my life and continues to be. In fact, I just got back yesterday and I’m there six plus times a year, seven times a year. And I think there’s a freedom to being an American and there’s a freedom to being, particularly on the West Coast of the States, this sort of, it even has to do with the visual distance that we have in California at times in the Central Coast that’s sort of expansive and there’s a precision and a sort of focus with the Swiss way of doing things. And I think those things really helped me in practice oscillate between those two worlds and certainly appreciate how those things come together.

And I like to think those things are reflected in a lot of the work we do and the relationships we build and the way we look at the world. But the Swiss have this amazing tradition of craft and this permanence that’s just very different. It has a heaviness to it, which sometimes binds you in history and gives you a lot more boundaries where I think being a native Californian also, or feeling so, I think everything is possible and I think having a little bit of both of those is really special or has been for me.

SSR: And it’s good balance, right?

DM: Yeah, I think so. I think so.

SSR: What made you decide to launch your, I know you started something with someone else, but to kind of transition to your own firm 2004, it was a fairly young age, weren’t you?

DM: It was. I already had about eight years of work experience, because I started working when I started architecture school. I’m not sure. And it’s interesting, because I think to me it’s not about going on your own, it’s about being a part of something special. And if you’re not a part of it, you need to make it. And not that Frank’s office wasn’t special, but I don’t know. I think if I had to do it again, I don’t know that I would honestly, because the world’s so challenging these days it seems. And I think I had a lot fewer needs and there was an ability to do that. I didn’t rely on practical things that I rely on now being a father and a parent and all these other things that we are and having those responsibilities. And so I think it was almost only possible because I was that young and probably didn’t do the analytics that I might’ve done, that would’ve maybe held me back.

But I think I spend so much time with our team focusing on the power that we have as a team and that it’s a team sport that I struggle with talking about how important it is to go do it on your own. Because ultimately what we do takes, it’s a group effort. And I think it’s particularly with the more impactful work that’s larger in scale, it’s so much about cultivating the right team, because it’s really rare that any single individual has all the skill sets. And so I think, I in a roundabout way, tried to answer your question without telling everyone to go start their own practice.

SSR: No, but we talk about it a lot on this pod. Just sometimes ignorance is bliss and you just have that feeling and you just sometimes not having a plan is the best plan.

DM: Yeah, I think it was also, I mean there was a lot of difficulty with it. I used to wake up at 3:00 in the morning in the early years of our practice and I’d go to the office and people would come in at 8:00 and I’d have loud music on and they’d be like, “What are you doing?” And you have to have the hunger and the drive. It is so difficult. And I think I don’t want to scare people out of it, because I think people need to listen to their heart and do what’s right for them. But ultimately, I actually think most people don’t have the temperament for it. I think you have to be so hungry and so driven and so prepared.

And I feel like I had been preparing for that since I was 18, 19. And it just doesn’t come overnight. And I look at things today and I’m like, we’ve had a practice for 20 years now, and I feel have been really fortunate to have a certain degree of success, yet it’s still hard to get great work. And I think we have to appreciate what we do have all the time.

SSR: And what were those early days? 

DM: Yeah, I think not unlike today, we had great clients. And I know it’s not popular sometimes to talk about clients because it’s supposed to be about us as creatives and what we bring to the table. But I think having people that believe in you I think is a really important thing for any practice, whether it’s a small private practice as an architect or a designer or even a large corporate firm where clients want you to suggest things because you believe in them as opposed to just doing what’s in your scope.

And I think to me, surrounding yourself with people both in the practice and also even your clients and picking your clients about in a sense of who do you think has the best chance in believing you and giving you that opportunity. I think that’s a really important part of what we look at when we select clients and when we sort of vet which projects we want. So I think a lot of it is very much about those relationships.

SSR:  And what were your first type of projects? 

DM: Actually one of the first ones was for a really real estate office in Venice called Venice Properties with a older client of mine that’s become a mentor in a way. And I remember he sort of took me through this loft building that he had just purchased, and he was like, “Yeah, well maybe we’ll just go to IKEA and buy furniture.” We ended up designing every little thing to pencil drawers to these cool sliding walls and really crafted this amazingly unique gallery like space that he used as a real estate practice for about 20 people.

And it was, frankly, for our first project, for us, it was really truly pretty bespoke. And I think reminds me still to this day that we create our own reality and part of our objective is to help shape the narrative for a client about what they see as the project. And that’s hard to do in the corporate world where you’re given an RFP and you’re told these are the boundaries and this is what you’re supposed to do. With private clients or clients that trust in you, you’re able to help shape that narrative. And so I think that’s what we aspire to do is to help shape that narrative as opposed to be sort of given a box and said, “Stay in this box,” because I think we can bring more value in the work we do.

SSR: Yeah. And so you had that, so how many people were with you at first? 

DM: No, it was myself and I think two people, which is in sharp contrast to today where we’re close to 60, over three offices in Santa Monica, New York and in Lozan in Switzerland. But honestly, we continue to think in certain terms in that sort of crafty boutique way. And I think that’s something that we’ve always held close to the vest. It’s a lot harder with a lot more people as you can imagine, just all the components and complexity. But I think we tailor our projects to our clients and try to really shape them individually and I think still try to do that.

SSR: So you work across all typologies, you do hospitality, you do retail, you do residential, you do urban planning, you touched a little bit of everything. Was there a plan to that or did that just organically happen and do you think that makes you more successful because you get to have your hands across disciplines?

DM: I think that it makes it really rewarding. I wouldn’t definitely not say it’s more successful because I think it’s really up to one’s own sort of aspirations and sort of objection or focus. I think it definitely helps inform the others. And I think of even Charles and Ray Eames and The Powers of 10 and this idea of distance and sort of closeness and how one can oscillate between those and how much it helps you understand the other. And I think we try to do that in our work. And I think just as the residential work helped inform a lot of the hospitality work over the years and vice versa. So I think as I said earlier, it’s sort of about putting these… Once you can put all these things together and the world makes more sense, I think it sort of exponentially increases the power of design for us as leaders in the industry.

And I think that’s an important objective too, which is in different worlds as designers, we have more or less influence. And I think I’d love to see a world where we as designers have the kind of influence that the sort of capital investment bankers do because we bring improved experience to the world. And I think that matters and that should matter more and we need to help increase that perception because oftentimes, particularly in the more corporate environments, we’re seen as consultants, which is the kind of work we don’t want to take and I think we shouldn’t take. But the reality is we all have businesses to run, but we need to elevate that perception and strengthen ourselves as leaders in not just the design world in the decision-making world. That’s really important.

SSR: Is there one project, I know it’s hard to pick one, but that you think really defines what you all do well?

DM: There are different types. In a residential project, I can think of one, in a hospitality project, I can think of one, in a retail project, I can think of one, but I think-

SSR: Let’s go with the hospitality one.

DM: Yeah, I think the most recent example of a hospitality one is probably Nobu, Palo Alto, not because it’s part of a larger brand. I think that’s probably one of the stretches of it, but I think because we really helped curate an environment that was both about indoor space, outdoor space, architecture, interiors really bespoke of FF&E, and it was a phased project, which had a lot of complexity for us.

So it was a project that lasted six years and the hotel maintained in full operation during that duration, which was rather complex. And it had several stages, including several buildings and the removal of some buildings and the creation of an outdoor garden. And I think we’re really good at complexity and being able to juggle multiple dimensions. And I don’t know if that’s because of what you said, this sort of ability to sort zoom in and zoom out as well as we do, but I think that’s something we not only thrive at, it inspires us and gives us energy.

And I think in a world where we are today, which is also driven by adaptive reuse and trying to transform assets that might be underperforming and re-envision them, I think it gives us the unique sort of toolkit to do a lot of different things and help bring value to clients. So yeah, that would definitely be one I would say.

SSR: And talk to me too, because I know indoor, outdoor, sustainability, wellness all kind of is infused throughout your projects in different ways. Talk a little bit about your process and how you integrate those elements into your various projects?

DM: Sure. Well, I think it’s interesting over the years we’ve often had, and we’ve had sort of a desire to have more clarity to what our process is, but our process is very much about listening to the unique aspects of the project. And so there may be some consistencies as it relates to what’s driving the design. And for us, that’s always been sort of a humanistic approach and an experiential based approach, which is not about what does this look like from some sort of foreign distance or some sort of foreign view, but what does it look like to the user, to the guest?

And I think that drives a lot of decision making in our process. And I think making things, mock-ups and samples and the kinds of things that really help craft unique elements in the built environment is a big part of our process. But otherwise, a lot of it’s really about also understanding how do clients and that client group, what language do they want to speak.

And not all of them want to speak the same language. Some of them are really focused on wanting to see things in a certain way, and we need to understand that, you can’t craft a television channel unless you know your audience. And so I think to say that you always do television shows a certain way doesn’t make sense unless you know your audience and our audience can be very diverse from very affluent individuals that have a lot of resources that are doing hospitality projects to brands that are doing those and sometimes the collaboration of those.

And so I think as most of us in hospitality understand complexity, you have to be comfortable with complexity and you have to be comfortable with adapting to what’s necessary in different times on different projects and best serving the project with the sort of larger objective of pushing design to something that means more to people.

SSR:  I think too, it’s interesting that even in today’s world, as you were hinting at before too, it’s like there’s many different voices, so being able to work within all those different voices and needs.

DM: Yeah, it’s actually interesting you say that because something, I remember a residential client of ours who hired us probably 15 years ago. We’ve done two homes for her and her husband since, and she was moving from London at the time to the West Coast. And she said one of the reasons she hired us is that she felt like our work showed an element of consistency, but it really reflected the client and you could see that in the work. So the projects didn’t all feel the same. And I think that to us, that’s not a bad thing. I think in some architectural and design arenas, they would sort of look at that, “Well, you’re not consistent at what you do.” And I think that’s actually because we’re trying to really listen and consider everything and shape something that ultimately clients are going to keep, and we’re short term sort of surrogates. And I think that’s important. And I think we try to balance that with also being strong about our values, which are consistent in design, but ultimately recognizing that it is about creating something for someone else.

SSR: But bringing your expertise, right? So tell me a little bit about the office today. How large are you all? How would you describe your culture and how do you describe yourself as a leader?

DM: Yeah, it’s interesting. The first reference I’ll have, it sounds more like a Bob Marley song, but it’s five time zones, three offices and or three business hubs or studios and one office. So we really try to work as one office even though we’re in multiple places and we have staff in five different time zones. Some are remote full-time and we’re even before the pandemic and three business hubs and really try to practice as one office even though we’re on different time zones.

So as our LA office, which is now a 20-year-old practice and our Swiss office has become a little closer in age, we’ve assimilated a little bit more some of our standards and all sorts of things. And I think we really try to work as one studio, and I think that has its challenges and there’s a lot of travel involved. We recently bought an apartment building in LA because we needed to house our staff so much in LA and the hotel costs were so exorbitant that it was cheaper to buy an apartment building.

And so I think we have a lot of diversity both in background but also in skillsets. Obviously architects, designers, some really focused on furniture and interiors and some really focused on traditional architectural documentation and sort of technical bespoke detailing and so forth. So I think diversity is the first thing that probably comes in mind, into my mind of practice. And our culture has always been one that is about trying to put the work first and being really mindful of each other and people.

And I’ve been in offices with four people when I was younger, other practices, and a couple of people didn’t get along, and I’m going to knock on wood at this point because we’ve had 60 people in our office, and I don’t think we really ever had a couple people that really didn’t get along. And so we’re really cautious about curating who and the personalities that come into the office.

And we’ll often take a better person, even if their skills are a little less than the other, because some of the people that we’ve hired that were perhaps not the best long-term fit, and some of them, one would call the highest sort of talent threshold. And so I think talent’s a little overrated to tell you the truth. And I believe more in people and people that believe in each other and collectively come together. And that is something we’ve stuck to and I think has served us and the practice and the people well. I think most people that are in our office now and have been in our office in the past would say the people is a really important part of our practice.

SSR: That’s awesome. And how are you as a leader, work within those different timezones and work cultures?

DM: I think, well, I’ve grown into it as anyone does. I think it’s hard to do. I think I used to try to set the example when we were a smaller practice. I remember we were 10 or 15 people, and my daughter who was like 3 at the time was like, “Daddy, why are you going back to work after dinner?” I’m like, “Well, I need to set the example.” And so I bought a blowup mattress and I had her come with me to work. She was 3, maybe she was 4, and I let her to try to take a nap next to me when I was working one night, because she didn’t have school the next day or something.

First of all, I got no work done. That was for sure, but I think setting that example is really important and not asking of others what I wouldn’t do myself, and just showing that commitment and passion and the authenticity to that I think is really, really important, but it’s difficult as most people know. And I think you can’t be all things to all people and you’re always going to disappoint someone. So you really have to stick to what you believe is right. And ultimately our success is also about the cultivation of people on our team.

And we’ve got a lot of people in our office that have been in our office now over 10 years, some over 15. And we’ve definitely always made that a focus. And I think you think about what helps make great design, and I talked earlier about clients and trust, and that goes the same way to staff and collaboration and teams, because when you’ve worked with someone for 10 years, you can sort of look at them and they know exactly what you’re talking about and you can reference a lot of other things. And so I think if we want to do the best work we can do, the more we stick together, the better work we can do.

And that’s something that’s maybe not talked a lot about in practice because everyone wants to climb in this sort of capitalist world that we’re in, but the reality is some of the best climbing we can do is with each other. And I think that’s something that is really important to our practice. And that also means I as a leader, and we as an ownership group, need to make sure that people have increased opportunity. And over the years we’ve done things like introduce a first time home buyers program where we help people buy their first house, which is crazy in LA because it’s hard to buy a house because we know how important it is that people also feel like they’re growing. If they’re in an office for 10 years and they feel like their goals and aspirations are helping being met within the practice, they don’t need to leave. And so those are harder things about the business that we certainly try to be attentive to all while doing the work.

SSR: Is there one part of the process that you still love the most?

DM: Yeah, probably just close collaboration with a person or two on our team in the early stage of what we would call the birthing of a project. And then I think I would say that and then the sort of art of making components of the project before the project’s built. I think it’s a real point of increased influence for us when we can show a client a full mock-up of something, of a facade of a building or a staircase or something that’s really a bespoke piece of the project.

And there’s a hundred percent certainty within that client that we’re not only achieving the larger objective but exceeding it. And that confidence and that momentum carries into projects. And so I think we don’t always see ourselves this way, but I think recognizing that we’re not only curating the design process, but we should be able to have influence on the creative momentum and the actual momentum of projects because it helps clients have more certainty. That’s an important part of the process, particularly with some of the more complex clients where you’ve got multiple executives that are part of that process.

So again, that may vary with a small private client versus a larger client, but I think that’s another part of us needing to listen and understand the decision making process within a design firm and the client decision making group. So understanding our audience is a big part of that.

SSR: And I know we talked about one project that really defines who you are. Has there been one project that, I know they all have their challenges, but something you learned the most from maybe earlier in your career or maybe later? I know as I said, everything has a story, it has a challenge, but is there one that sticks with you?

DM: Yeah, I think of something like The Row, this may a good example in Los Angeles, which we did with Mary-Kate and Ashley. And I think of how important flexibility is to business, and sometimes flexibility is seen as a contrarian to strong design, and I don’t think it needs to be. And I think you can create really strong environments and also inherently create spaces that have a certain amount of flexibility for the evolving vision of that brand, or in this case a retail group. So I think flexibility is something I don’t think I appreciated as much early in my career as much as I do now. And one of the other interesting things for us as creatives is we get to work with all these different businesses that have a very different lens on what they do, whether it’s a fashion group or a hospitality group or a larger commercial developer or private client.

And I think sometimes they don’t know what is in store within their own business five years ahead. And so for us to be able to give them the sort of creative vision while also maintaining a certain amount of flexibility for them from a functional standpoint within their projects, I think is really important. And something that just, again, brings more value to the work that we do, particularly in today’s environment, where I think projects cost more. They’re more complicated. Once you do them, you want to do them in a way of having greater permanence. So I think that’s certainly something that’s helped over the years.

SSR: So your aesthetic is so beautiful and it’s simplistic, yet layered and natural,and textural. So do you also have this, do you live this aesthetic at home as well?

DM: Over time, yeah, I think so. I think I didn’t always. I think I remember my first coffee table as a kid when I was 18. I wanted a better coffee table, so I sort of made a coffee table out of a cardboard box because I wanted to save up for a better one. So I think I’ve always been aspirational. And my surfer college roommates were like, “What are you doing?” And I was like, “Well, I’d rather wait and get a better one.” So I think, yeah, I do now. I think it’s important. One of the reasons I became an architect and a designer is I remember being probably somewhere between eight and 10 and changing my room, the furniture in my room around a lot.

And every time I did it had this really tremendous emotional effect on how I looked at the world and how I felt, and it gave me energy. And that’s something that was a really powerful lesson for me to sort of value and recognize the importance of design and the importance of my environment. And so that continues to be the case today. And so I certainly put a lot of value on where I spend my time and who I spend it with. So yeah, I think that’s definitely important.

SSR: And I read somewhere you’re an avid collector of art, aren’t you?

DM: My wife and I have been collecting for, I want to say close to 30 years, which is sort of, I’m 52, so I was 22 when I think we bought our first piece of art. And although I’ve had some art given to me from my family over the years, I think we’ve been collecting since the early 90s, and it’s been a big part of my story and our story as a family. And my daughter, ironically, is now in art school studying painting at UCLA, which is amazing.

And I think it adds a special dimension, I think, to the way we look at the world and sort of our history as a family. And we’re fortunate, appreciate a lot of the work and the artists and have gotten to know a lot of different artists over the years and see the insides of their practice and how they look at the world. And similar to the way our clients appreciate the way we look at the world. I look at artists as sort of my inspiration oftentimes. And yeah, it’s exciting. It gives me energy. And I think, again, so much of what drives us is the energy and where we find it.

SSR: Are there certain artists that you love or are loving today? 

DM: Yeah. I mean, Sarah Crowner is an artist I really appreciate Jacqueline Humphries, Brent Wadden. There’s a lot of… Obviously Ed Roche and a lot of legacy artists that are really amazing. And then a lot of younger artists. There’s an artist in Switzerland we’ve become close with over the years, Andy Denzler and a few others. It’s something I continue to look for when I travel and going to shows and fairs and so forth. And I think it helps inspire me too.

SSR: Is there something that most people might not know about you, a fun fact?

DM: Yeah. Well, I was going to go to the one that my high school girlfriend still tells me to this day, my first girlfriend from high school was always like she thought I was just going to be like Jeff Spicoli my entire life and be surfing and not really ever do anything because in high school that was my focus. But I think that’s sort of part of it, is that I think I’ve always focused on things and when I do, that’s what I do. But I would say probably that I was a surfer and that was my sole focus. That’s probably the first thing that comes to mind. And that my hair hasn’t always been gray.

SSR: Do you still surf at all?

DM: My daughter loves to surf, and so sometimes I surf with her. But it’s hard surfing as amazing as it is because it really grounds you and connects you with mother nature and the earth in a way that I think is hard to sort of recreate in any other thing in the world, frankly, other than maybe hiking in the mountains of Switzerland in the summer. You feel like you’re literally flying when you’re doing that somehow. I think the hard part of surfing is that it’s not something you can do when you want to do, and that it relies on the waves.

And so you may be in a time and space in your life that you’ve got time to do it, but the waves aren’t good. And so I think, as you can imagine, if you have a busy lifestyle, I’m spending a lot more time and have been over the past 20 years playing tennis than surfing because the tennis court’s not changing every day. But yeah, I think that’s probably the first thing that comes to mind.

SSR: I hate to end this conversation, but we always end the podcast with the question that is the title of the podcast. So what has been your greatest lesson or lessons learned along the way?

DM: I would say that ultimately it’s about creating work for people and that people are the unifying element in the things that we do, and that both the collaborators on our team and the clients and ultimately the people that experience the work, I think you have to really focus on what that sort of string line through the process is. And ultimately, I think it’s about for us, a very humanistic approach to the work and the practice.

SSR: Well, thank you so much for taking the time. We’re big fans. Can’t wait to see what you continue to do in the next 20 years. And congrats on a big anniversary.

Photos by Adam Amengual