Paul R. Williams

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Paul Revere Williams.

Paul Revere Williams (born February 18, 1894 in Los Angeles , † January 23, 1980 ) was an American architect . In the course of his career he erected around 3,000 buildings and was at times considered the " architect of the Hollywood stars ". Several of the structures he built are now registered as National Historic Landmarks . He was the first African American to become a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the institute's first African American Fellow . He was posthumously awarded the AIA Gold Medal for Excellence in 2017 as the first black architect .

Life

Poster of Paul R. Williams serving in the Navy.

Paul R. Williams was born the second son of Lila Wright Williams and Chester Stanley Williams. His parents had moved from Memphis to California shortly before he was born . He lost his father at the age of two and his mother two years later. Williams grew up with a foster mother who supported him in terms of education and the development of his artistic talent. He was the only African American child in his elementary school and high school . In high school, his teacher advised him not to become an architect because, being black, he would not get enough clients.

He graduated from the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects and studied civil engineering at the University of Southern California . Parallel to his training, he worked for a landscape planner and for designers. In 1920 he was proposed as a member of the Los Angeles City Planning Commission . In 1921 he worked in the architectural office of John C. Austin. Austin encouraged him to become a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and set up his own office. He opened Paul R. Williams & Associates in 1922 and became the AIA's first African American member in 1923.

In the 1920s and 1930s he designed homes for affluent customers, primarily in Bel Air , Brentwood and Beverly Hills . Increasingly, however, he also worked outside of Southern California , designing commercial and institutional buildings throughout the United States of America and outside the United States. He was a member of numerous committees and commissions. After working as an architect for five decades, he retired in 1973.

He was confronted with discrimination and the practice of racial segregation during his career . He developed the ability to sketch overhead for his works. He did this because he couldn't be sure that a white customer would want to stand next to him as a black. He kept drafts behind his back to give customers the opportunity to choose to shake hands with him. He himself could not even live in some areas where he designed houses.

His estate was housed on the Broadway Federal Savings & Loan . This bank burned during the 1992 Los Angeles riots and Williams' archive was destroyed.

plant

The Lon Chaney High Sierra House designed by Paul R. Williams in 1929 .

The buildings designed by Williams in the course of his career had a formative effect on architecture in the USA. For example, the treatment of verandas and terraces as an extension of living space or the use of concealable screens were developed by him in the 1920s and were standard from the 1970s . In particular, its architecture influenced the architectural style prevalent in southern California and especially Los Angeles . In terms of style, his work is very heterogeneous. As an Afro-American architect, more than others, he had to adapt to the stylistic wishes of his clients.

Victor Rossetti House, built in 1928.

In the 1920s, Williams designed buildings in the style of the "French Regency", Tudor , "Federal Revival" and the then popular "Spanish Colonial Revival". These are historicist styles based on different epochs. In addition to residential houses, he also built buildings that were used by the black community, such as the YMCA building on 28th Street in Los Angeles or the building of the Second Baptist Church together with Norman F. Marsh.

Despite the Great Depression and the general decline in construction activity in the 1930s , Paul R. Williams remained successful. For example, he designed the homes of Tyrone Power , Bill Robinson , Barbara Stanwyck , Lon Chaney senior and Johnny Weissmuller and was considered the star architect. He was not only active in Southern California , but also in Nevada and Washington, DC He now designed not only residential buildings but also commercial buildings for the Music Corporation of America or Saks Fifth Avenue . He also built in Nevada, but could n't even rent office space there because of discrimination as an African American. In Washington, DC he opened a joint office with Hilyard Robinson .

Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company office building (1948) in Los Angeles.

In the early 1940s , Williams was engaged in public construction projects, particularly housing. So he participated as part of a u. a. Richard Neutra included the Kosortium on the Pueblo del Rio Public Housing project in Vernon , Los Angeles, built between 1940 and 1941, and on the Watts Housing Development project in the Watts district of 1941 . Otherwise, the first half of the 1940s, Paul R. Williams' career was shaped by World War II . Williams was initially involved in the construction of workers' housing for the growing arms industry, he served as an architect in the US Navy when the USA entered the war in December 1941 . As a member of the Allied Engineers , he was instrumental in the expansion of the Roosevelt Naval Base in Long Beach during the war . With the books The Small Home of Tomorrow (1945) and New Homes for Today (1946) he took up the problem of integrating the American war veterans into civil life from an architectural point of view. After the interruption due to military service, he was able to do well again in the market. Until January 1948 he building worth 20 million has been estimated US dollar have built since the war. In the second half of the 1940s he built an extension of the Beverly Hills Hotel in addition to ordinary houses and villas , designed the interior of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel and, together with A. Quincy Jones, built the tennis club of the Town & Country Center in Palm Springs . Williams also planned the office building for the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company , an African American company.

Home of Paul R. Williams, built in 1952.

When the modern and international styles began to prevail in the 1950s , the style of Paul R. Williams was seen as traditional and unfashionable. Its design principles were picked up again as groundbreaking in the 21st century . Williams adapted his architectural style with the predominant use of contemporary elements. During this time he designed, among other things, the Marina del Rey Middle School (built in 1960), the Botanikum of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The building he planned for architecture and engineering at Howard University took up the principles of classical modernism .

Theme Building at LAX (1961).

Paul R. Williams continued to build residential homes in the 1960s . The construction of 190 houses in SeaView ( Palos Verdes ) is worth mentioning here . But the focus of his work was more the construction of buildings for institutions. He planned the Franz Hall II of UCLA and the Martin Luther King, Jr. General Hospital in Watts . His office carried out the expansion of Los Angeles International Airport with two other offices . The theme building built here incorporated elements that Williams had developed earlier when building the Founder's Church of Religious Science (1957) and at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis (Tennessee) in 1962. He had donated the plans for the Memphis hospital as well as the plans for the current building to the First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles . The Williams architectural style in the 1960s was now that of modernism.

Works (selection)

  • Founder's Church of Religious Science (1957), 3281 West 6th Street, Los Angeles.
  • Angelus Funeral Home (1934), 1010 E. Jefferson Blvd., Los Angeles
  • First Church of Christ, Scientist (1939), 501 Riverside Dr., Reno (Nevada)
  • Luella Garvey House (1934), 589-599 California Ave., Reno, Nevada
  • Goldschmidt House (1928), 243 Avenida La Cuesta, San Clemente (California)
  • Second Baptist Church (1926), 1100 E. 24th St., Los Angeles
  • 28th Street YMCA (1926), 1006 E. 28th St., Los Angeles
  • California State Historic Landmarks
  • Barbara Stanwyck House (1937), 18650 Devonshire Street, Northridge , Los Angeles
  • Los Angeles Historic Landmarks
  • Home (1940) at 7 Oakmont Drive, Brentwood , Los Angeles

Awards

Memorial to Paul R. Williams (north of the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance building he built ), Los Angeles.
  • In 1939 Time Magazine certified him : "Perhaps the most successful Negro artist in the US is Paul R. Williams" ( Perhaps the most successful African American artist in the United States is Paul R. Williams ).
  • Williams was awarded the Spingarn Medal in 1953 .
  • In 1957 he was the first African American to be elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.
  • In 2010/2011 the University of Memphis Art Museum dedicated an exhibition to him and his work.
  • Since 2015, a memorial on the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance building in West Adams that he designed has been commemorating Williams. The memorial wall designed by Georgia Hanna Toliver depicted some of the buildings he designed.
  • In 2017 Paul R. Williams was posthumously awarded the AIA Gold Medal for Excellence . He was the first black architect to be honored in this way.
  • In 2017, his alma mater honored him with the USC's Distinguished Alumni Award.
  • Palm Springs dedicated a star to Paul R. Williams on their Walk of Stars

literature

  • Karen E. Hudson: Paul R. Williams, Architect: A Legacy of Style. Rizzoli, New York 1993, ISBN 0-8478-1763-6 .
  • Karen E. Hudson: The Will and the Way: Paul R. Williams, Architect. Rizzoli, New York 1994, ISBN 0-8478-1780-6 .
  • Paul Revere Williams In: Stephen Sennot, Jeffrey B. Samudio (Eds.): Encyclopedia of 20th Century Architecture. Routledge / Taylor & Francis Publishers, 2004.
  • Thomas Yenser (Ed.): Who's Who in Colored America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Persons of African Descent in America 3rd edition. Who's Who in Colored America, New York, 1930-1931-1932

Web links

Commons : Paul R. Williams  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Karen Grisby Bates: A Trailblazing Black Architect Who Helped Shape LA npr.org of June 22, 2012.
  2. ↑ a b Christopher Hawthorne, For the late LA architect Paul R. Williams, national honor overlaps with a bleak anniversary , Los Angeles Times, April 28, 2017.
  3. ↑ Shashank Bengali: Williams the Conqueror. In: Trojan Family Magazine. Spring 2004.
  4. ↑ Christopher Hawthorne, Paul Revere Williams: From the Center to the Margins and Back Again , Architecture Magazine 2017.
  5. ↑ Michelle Radcliff, What Is the Difference Between Colonial and Traditional Home Styles? SFGate House Guilds.
  6. ↑ 1920's on the AIA's Paul Revere Williams Project website.
  7. ↑ 1930's on the AIA's Paul Revere Williams Project website.
  8. ↑ a b c 1940s on the website of the Paul Revere Williams Project of the AIA.
  9. ^ Pueblo del Rio Public Housing. In: arch INFORM .
  10. ↑ Christopher Hawthorne, Paul Revere Williams: From the Center to the Margins and Back Again , Architecture Magazine 2017.
  11. ^ Watts Housing Development. In: arch INFORM .
  12. ^ Roosevelt Naval Base, Long Beach, CA , on the Paul Revere Williams Project website of the AIA.
  13. ^ Paul R. Williams in the Encyclopaedia Britannica .
  14. ↑ 1950s on the website of the Paul Revere Williams Project of the AIA.
  15. ↑ SeaView on the website of the Paul Revere Williams Project of the AIA.
  16. ↑ Pamela Corante-Hansen: Old Hollywood's "Architect to the Stars" and his Southbay Connection. ( Memento from May 28, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) www.southbaydigs.com.
  17. ^ Founder's Church of Religious Science. on the website of the Paul Revere Williams Project of the AIA.
  18. ↑ a b c Chanté Griffin, Seven of Paul Revere Williams' Outstanding Architectural Feats (That Aren't Homes) , KCET, February 10, 2020.
  19. ↑ St. Jude Children's Research Hospital on the Paul Revere Williams Project website of the AIA.
  20. ^ Vance Lauderdale: Architect Paul Williams. In: Memphis Magazine. January 2012.
  21. ↑ 1960's on the website of the Paul Revere Williams Project of the AIA.
  22. ^ National Register Information System . In: National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service . Retrieved July 9, 2010.
  23. ^ Founder's Church of Religious Science. on the website of the Paul Revere Williams Project of the AIA.
  24. ↑ Angelus Funeral Home on the National Register of Historic Places , accessed March 8, 2020.
  25. ↑ a b Bob Pool: 7 LA sites are added to National Register. In: Los Angeles Times . June 12, 2009.
  26. ↑ NRHP nom doc
  27. ^ First Church of Christ, Scientist on the National Register of Historic Places , accessed March 8, 2020.
  28. ^ First Church of Christ. In: arch INFORM .
  29. ↑ NRHP nom doc
  30. ↑ Garvey, Luella, House on the National Register of Historic Places , accessed March 8, 2020.
  31. ^ Mella Rothwell Harmon: National Register of Historic Places Registration: Luella Garvey House. (PDF) National Park Service, August 2003, accessed January 20, 2017 .
  32. ^ Goldschmidt House on the National Register of Historic Places , accessed March 8, 2020.
  33. ↑ Don Kindred, Story Of The Goldschmidt House , San Clemente Journal, May 26, 2017.
  34. ^ Second Baptist Church on the National Register of Historic Places , accessed March 8, 2020.
  35. ^ Second Baptist Church. In: arch INFORM .
  36. ↑ Twenty-eighth Street YMCA on the National Register of Historic Places , accessed March 8, 2020.
  37. ^ Barbara Stanwyck House. In: arch INFORM .
  38. ^ Paul Williams house in Brentwood gains landmark designation , Los Angeles Times, April 8, 2014.
  39. ^ Paul R. Williams Project
  40. ↑ List of winners on the NAACP website
  41. ^ Remembering Paul R. Williams, Pioneering Architect US Trojan Family 2016.
  42. ↑ Mimi Zeiger, Photographer Janna Ireland is ensuring that modernist architect Paul R. Williams isn't forgotten , Los Angeles Times, October 1, 2018.
  43. ↑ a b ALUMNUS PAUL R. WILLIAMS HONORED AT MODERNISM WEEK School News of the USC School of Architecture from February 5, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Williams, Paul R.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Williams, Paul Revere (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American architect
DATE OF BIRTH February 18, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH los Angeles
DATE OF DEATH January 23, 1980