We were always constructing spaces for ourselves, not out of an urge to be builders but to make hideouts.”[8] He recognized houses by Schindler and Frank Lloyd Wright in the neighborhood not by the architects’ names, but because they “just looked better.
It looked different than all the rest.” [9] In junior high school, he took drafting classes, where he "fell in love with" isometric drawing and realized his affinity for precision.
[6] In 1972, Rotondi was one of fifty students to leave Cal Poly Pomona and attend the newly founded Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc).
I was part of and a witness to this extraordinary process.”[12] Rotondi’s earlier work is highlighted by industrial concepts and materials, and asymmetry, and is considered to be one of the primary figures of Los Angeles' Postmodernism school.
Authorship is less important than collaboration.”[12] Rotondi is currently a Distinguished Faculty at SCI-Arc where he teaches design studios, thesis students and seminars on creative imagination.