Twentieth Century Architects in Los Angeles
Architecture in Los Angeles has generated praise, innovation and scorn from the beginning. Great architects have designed important structures for Los Angeles, and altered the city’s landscape in ways residents do not always understand. This SDG will study selected Los Angeles architects and their unique architectural contributions to the city during the 20th century, starting with craftsmen architects Greene & Greene and ending with Frank Gehry. We will utilize the survey of L.A. architecture published by architect and UCLA professor Charles Moore, former Dean of Yale Architecture School, entitled The City Observed: Los Angeles; weekly topics will require some research by presenters from the internet, or from sources identified in Moore’s book, regarding the architects and works that our group will examine.
Twentieth Century Architects in Los Angeles
Week 1: Greene & Greene. The Greene Brothers designed craftsmen houses adapted to the Southern Californian climate, culture and landscape at the beginning of the 20th century. Moore, pp.309-18 (Gamble House); 325-36; 333-35 (Blacker House).
Week 2: Myron Hunt/Wallace Neff/Gordon Kaufmann. California romantic and Spanish revival architecture integrated old styles into a new environment in Los Angeles. Moore, pp.343-49; 180 (Bel Air); 206-8 (Westwood Village);128 (Palos Verde); 95-97 (Scripps College); 217-218 (Greystone Mansion); 148-9 (Ambassador Hotel); 84-87 (Mission Inn).
Week 3: Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright undertook important new works in Los Angeles that deserve their own SDG, including Hollyhock House (pp.251- 253), Ennis House (p.254), Storer House (p.237-38) and various others.
Week 4: Richard Neutra/Rudolph Schindler. Southern California attracted outstanding architects from other nations. Richard Neutra (Lovell House, Neutra VDL House) and Rudolf Schindler (Schindler House, Lovell Beach House) came to L.A. to work with Frank Lloyd Wright, but they remained to create unique and innovative structures of their own.
Week 5: John and Donald Parkinson. From L.A.’s iconic City Hall to Union Station to Bullocks Wilshire, the Parkinson office produced some of Los Angeles’ most distinctive architecture.
Week 6: Julia Morgan/Paul Williams. Pioneers Julia Morgan and Paul Williams shattered barriers in California’s architectural profession to create their own signature spaces in Los Angeles.
Hour 1: Julia Morgan
Hour 2: Paul Williams
Week 7: Lautner/Koenig/Eichler/May. L.A. architects experimented during the post-war era with unusual design concepts and created striking and controversial structures in Los Angeles that reshaped residential housing.
Week 8: Pereira/Luckman/Becket/A.C.Martin. Large architectural firms tackled L.A.’s massive growth during the fifties and sixties, producing many of the architectural landmarks of Los Angeles.
Hour 1: A.C.Martin/Becket
Hour 2: Pereira/Luckman
Week 9: Yamasaki/Pelli/Pei/Piano. L.A. attracted top architects from beyond Southern California, who have designed major buildings throughout Los Angeles.
Week 10: L.A. Innovators: Eames/Kappe/Mayne. Creative architects found fertile ground in Los Angeles and inspired a generation of innovative teachers and architects.
Week 11: L.A. Museums:Arata Izosaki/Richard Meier/DillerScofidio+Renfro. L.A.’s museums enlisted outstanding architects to design imaginative new projects, including MOCA, the Getty Center, and Broad Art Museum
Week 12: Architecture of Temples and Churches. Impressive religious structures have been created for Los Angeles: Wilshire Boulevard Temple (Edelman), Our Lady of Angels Cathedral (Monreo), Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple (Cline) and Wayfarers Chapel (Lloyd Wright).
Week 13: Architecture of Colleges and Universities. L.A. campuses contain notable examples of the good, the bad and also the ugly: UCLA (Allison; Welton Becket), Claremont Colleges (Myron Hunt; Edward Durrell Stone), USC (William Pereira; Edward Durrell Stone), Cal Tech (Myron Hunt; Flewelling & Moody); Loyola Law School (Frank Gehry).
Week 14: Frank Gehry. ‘Local boy’ Gehry has made numerous contributions to L.A.’s urban landscape, ranging from his famous Santa Monica residence, to the Binoculars Building, Disney Hall and his current Los Angeles River restoration project.
Charles Moore, City Observed: Los Angeles (Vintage 1984). This book is out of print but used copies are available at a reasonable price; please contact Pat Boltz if you encounter difficulty locating a copy at a reasonable price.