Paul R. Williams Architect

by Karen E. Hudson

One of the most prolific Los Angeles architects, Paul R. Williams had an extraordinary career extending from the 1920's to the 1970's. HIs vast body of built work stretches across the world-from Paris and Colombia to Washington, D.C., New York, and Memphis. However, the Los Angeles area was his personal and professional focus.

Genres: Architecture, Nonfiction, Biography

240 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 1993

Reviews

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book, and bought the coffee table edition. Prolific and elegant, he cut a figure across the West Coast architectural world in spite the constraints of his era. My great-grandfather's sisters were his contemporaries in Los Angeles, which is how I came across this intriguing man's story.

I highly recommend this book for those studying residential architecture.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have finally found a serious architectural study of the work of Paul R. Williams, a Los Angeles architect whose iconic buildings shaped the modern city at mid century. As a black man, he worked at a time when he could not live in most of the neighborhoods where he designed houses. He was the first black member off the American Institute of Architects. I have been looking for a book that discusses his architecture and its impact on the city, and his experience being the only POC in most situations. I finally found that book--I had to get it through interlibrary loan from UCSD. In this book California architectural historian David Gebhard talks about Williams and his impact on the development of the city of Los Angeles, his use of modern and historic motifs in the design of his houses, his contributions to civic and corporate and religious structures in Los Angeles from the AME church to the YMCA to the Capitol Records building and theme building at LAX. He goes into detail about Williams' work in the black community in Los Angeles. A satisfying book with the requisite photos--I only wish it were not out of print so I could buy a copy for my house! An excellent book.

[Michael Heath-Caldwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book on the archtitectural style of Paul Williams from the 1940s 1950s.