With Christo’s recent passing, to honor his and Jeanne-Claude’s life I thought I’d illustrate the impact that they (like so many other pioneers and thought leaders) had on me growing up. . 1. When I was a kid, my dad told me about this fabric artist whose work he drove across the country to see. That project was Running Fence. A continuous fabric wall that literally ended in the ocean itself. . 2. Later on in design school, one of my mentors (a brilliant multi-hyphenate) told me about his time working directly for this same artist (as well as Isamu Noguchi). Very lucky, I know. . 3. A year or so later, I started reading everything I could on Christo and Jeanne-Claude, from their star-crossed romance to the artwork inspired by it (all of which was completely self-funded by sales of their process art, no joke). . 4. By then, I had met my gf (now, my wife) and could truly appreciate what it means to have a powerful woman stand beside you. From my perspective, JC’s contributions were integral and so all the artwork is as much a reflection of her genius as it is his. . 5. At the twilight of my architecture career (having been admitted to USC film school after moonlighting for some time — a crazy workload not for everyone) Christo debuted one of his last major works, “The Floating Piers” in northern Italy. My wife (equally the adventurous type) leapt at this once in a lifetime event and we set out to film and photograph it (I’d barely flown a drone before/they were new on the scene at the time). It was as spectacular as you can imagine, and also why I knew I needed to be there to capture it in ways no one else would dare to (which turned out to be true). . 6. An aerial view of Christo’s team on a tour boat made for this event. . 7. While it’s a bit hard to picture now with social distancing measures in place, for the 2 weeks it was up (no typo there) it attracted 1.2M visitors from around the world. With literally no handrails or barricades separating you from the water’s edge, it was breathtaking, and the ground felt like you were walking on a waterbed. . @christojeanneclaude thank you for the inspiration, memories and bringing people together. RIP