User:JPDMARTINEZ

Joseph Martinez was born on November 29, 1948 in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico. His parents moved to San Diego, California in 1952 for the “second gold rush”, the robust aerospace industry. He graduated from Abraham Lincoln High in 1966 and received a full scholarship to UC San Diego. There he majored in Visual Arts and Mathematics, and was deeply involved in the beginnings of the Chicano Movement. He co-founded Maya/Mecha at UC San Diego; he also was part of the student steering committee for the establishment of The Third World College (now called Thurgood Marshall College). While at UC San Diego he studied under artists / professors Newton Harrison, Jeffrey Raskin, David Antin, John Baldessari, Amy Goldin, and Manny Farber. In 1972 he studied architecture at Harvard University, Graduate School of Design. Joseph obtained his Master of Architecture degree in 1975. While at GSD, he studied under professors Donald Stull, Alexander Tzonis and visiting professor Peter Land. In 1980, he established his practice in Architecture, Planning and Urban Design. During that period (1979-81) he was also a Visiting Lecturer in Architecture at UC Berkeley. In 1983 he was appointed by President Richard Welsh as the founding Dean of The New School of Architecture in Chula Vista, CA. In 1986 he was recruited by Professor Lawrence Herzog to teach the upper division courses in Urban Planning and Design at UC San Diego. Maintaining and growing his practice, in 1989 he took on Anthony Cutri to establish Martinez+Cutri Corporation. The firm had a broad portfolio of work with expertise in hospitality, k-12 education and higher ed, civic and governmental centers, luxury resort planning and urban design, and high-density, mixed-use residential projects. Some of his seminal and award winning projects include: the Hyatt Regency West Tower, San Diego Embarcadero; New Marriott Hall, San Diego; the New Lincoln High School, as well as Olympian High, Otay Ranch High, San Ysidro High and Rancho del Rey Middle; college projects include: Southwestern College, Otay Mesa Campus; San Diego State University, Calexico Campus, and the recently completed César E. Chavez Campus for the San Diego Community College District; and, resort and master plans, including The Navy-Broadway Complex, San Diego; Deseos Mexico in Mexico City; Chhatrala Centre in Surat India; Palmilla Resort expansion in Cabo San Lucas; Harbor Center San Diego for Solar Industries; and, Bosque de las Arucarias in Tijuana, Mexico, for Codimex.

Over the years he has been the recipient of various accolades, including: Alumni of the Year (1985) and Alumni of the Century (1987) both from UC San Diego, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the California Rural Legal assistance (2000), and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Barrio Station (2015). In addition, he received an AIA Presidential Citation for the Normal Heights Re-building Plan (1987), a National AIA Award for César E. Chavez Elementary School, a California AIA Citation for Prospect Point La Jolla, and a San Diego AIA Award for Lindo Lake Community Center (1984). Likewise Joseph has a long history of civic involvement, including co-founder of the Mariachi Foundation Chula Vista, CA; Bahia del Sur, ONE VOTE, as well as a board member of the YMCA, Qualcomm Stadium Authority, and a appointee of the Governor of California to the RGEC Commission (1994).

Presently, he is designing projects in San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and resort master plans in Puerto Vallarta and the Yucatán Peninsula. Since 2017 he has served as a Senior Staff Writer for By Design e-magazine via UC Berkeley, College of Environmental Design.