The first architectural monograph covering the first African-American member and Fellow of the A.I.A. who designed over 3,000 projects from the 1920s to the 1970s. 200 illustrations, 100 in color.
Over a career spanning six decades, architect Paul Revere Williams came to define what gracious living looked like for the Hollywood elite. Williams mastered an array of architectural idioms—including American Colonial, Spanish Mediterranean, English Tudor, French Normandy, Art Deco, and, of course, the California ranch style—to create the sophisticated yet understated showplaces that are featured here in all new full-color photography. Among the most celebrated architects of his generation, Williams was also the first African-American member of the American Institute of Architects, and he was deeply involved in the black community in Los Angeles and in African-American affairs nationally. Williams moved among many worlds, and with celebrity clients such as Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Tyrone Power, and Barbara Stanwyck, as well as clients who made Hollywood run behind the scenes, not to mention members of Los Angeles high society, Williams left his mark in the city’s most glamorous and exclusive enclaves—Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Bel Air, and the Hollywood Hills. Paul R. Williams: Classic Hollywood Style is a dazzling tour of this prolific architect’s most spectacular houses, by his granddaughter Karen Hudson, with a special focus on their roles not only as places for high living but also as venues for world-class entertaining.
Discover the remarkable story of an orphaned Black boy who grew up to become the groundbreaking architect to the stars, Paul R. Williams. A stunning nonfiction picture-book biography from the Caldecott Honor–winning author and NAACP Image Award–nominated artist. As an orphaned Black boy growing up in America in the early 1900s, Paul R. Williams became obsessed by the concept of "home." He not only dreamed of building his own home, he turned his dreams into drawings. Defying the odds and breaking down the wall of racism, Williams was able to curve around the obstacles in his way to become a world-renowned architect. He designed homes for the biggest celebrities of the day, such as Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball, and created a number of buildings in Los Angeles that are now considered landmarks. From Andrea J. Loney, the author of the Caldecott Honor Book Double Bass Blues, and award-winning artist Keith Mallett comes a remarkable story of fortitude, hope, and positivity.
"Ellen Weiss breaks important new ground in her remarkable monograph on Robert R. Taylor. This volume is by far the most detailed account we have of an African American architect. Weiss vividly conveys the immense challenges faced by black architects and professionals of every kind, especially during the rise of Jim Crow. Along the way we get myriad insights on architectural education, architect-client relationships, and the development of a major institution of higher learning."--- Richard Longstreth, George Washington University "Architectural historian Ellen Weiss's book provides a wealth of little-known factual information about Taylor and a scholarly historical analysis of his many contributions in architectural education and professional practice. A must-read for anyone with an interest in architecture and a certain reference for every architecture student."--- Richard Dozier, Dean, Robert R. Taylor School of Architecture & Construction Science, Tuskegee University "Robert R. Taylor's place in history as the first academically-trained African American architect has been well known, but an authoritative assessment of his contribution to American architectural and planning practice has remained elusive until now. Weiss deftly interweaves the story of the Tuskegee campus with an examination of Taylor's pedagogy and the plight of black architects in the early twentieth century."--- Gary Van Zante, Curator of Architecture and Design, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Meeting the Challenge of Sustainable Design "Daniel Williams's Sustainable Design is . . . a thoroughly practical call for the design professions to take the next steps toward transformation of the human prospect toward a future that is sustainable and sustaining of the best in human life lived in partnership not domination." --From the Foreword by David W. Orr, the Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics and Chair of the Environmental Studies Program at Oberlin College "In this pioneering book, Daniel Williams provides the sort of intelligent, thoughtful, experienced insights that--if followed--will ensure that we make the right choices. It should be on the desk of every architect in the world." --Denis Hayes, president and CEO of the Bullitt Foundation and coordinator of the first Earth Day in 1970 Architects identify "sustainability" as the most important change in the future of their profession. Sustainable Design: Ecology, Architecture, and Planning is a practical, comprehensive guide to design and plan a built environment compatible with the region's economic, social, and ecological patterns. In this book, Daniel Williams challenges professionals to rethink architecture and to see their projects not as objects but as critical, connected pieces of the whole, essential to human health as well as to regional economy and ecology. Comprehensive in scope, Sustainable Design answers key questions such as: * How do I begin thinking and designing ecologically? * What is the difference between "green design" and "sustainable design"? * What are some examples of effective change I can make that will have the most impact for the least cost? Written for architects, planners, landscape architects, engineers, public officials, and change agent professionals, this important resource defines the issues of sustainable design, illustrates conceptual and case studies, and provides support for continued learning in this increasingly central focus of architects' and urban planners' work. Williams's book features winning projects from the first decade of the AIA's Committee on the Environment (COTE) Top Ten award program.
Forgotten Modern reveals the work of the innovative architects building in California from the 1930s to the 1970s. With groundbreaking and illuminating examples that will alter the way we think of California architecture, Hess and Weintraub focus on those that exemplify early mid-entury modern, variations on minimalism, and organic architecture. Though architects, historians, and the public alike have overlooked many of these superb architects from California's past century, this book intends to bring them back to our attention. All the architects included here are important in helping to show the breadth of design, that styles like Organic were more widely represented than we have previously realized, and that the fertile soil of California design fostered a wide spectrum of remarkable ideas-even if not all developed a significant school of followers. Chapters Include: A New Introduction to Midcentury California Searching For Midcentury Modern Variations on Wood and Steel Modernism Organic Architecture History Plus Modernism
A 100-year visual history of the magazine, showcasing the work of top interior designers and architects, and the personal spaces of numerous celebrities. Architectural Digest at 100 celebrates the best from the pages of the international design authority. The editors have delved into the archives and culled years of rich material covering a range of subjects. Ranging freely between present and past, the book features the personal spaces of dozens of private celebrities like Barack and Michelle Obama, David Bowie, Truman Capote, David Hockney, Michael Kors, and Diana Vreeland, and includes the work of top designers and architects like Frank Gehry, David Hicks, India Mahdavi, Peter Marino, John Fowler, Renzo Mongiardino, Oscar Niemeyer, Axel Vervoordt, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Elsie de Wolfe. Also included are stunning images from the magazine’s history by photographers such as Bill Cunningham, Horst P. Horst, Simon Upton, Francois Dischinger, Francois Halard, Julius Shulman, and Oberto Gili. “The book is really a survey of how Americans have lived—and how American life has changed—over the past 100 years.” ?Los Angeles Times “A Must-Have Book!” ?Interior Design Magazines “Written in the elevated quality that only the editors of Architectural Digest can master so well, AD at 100: A Century of Style is the world’s newest guide to the best and brightest designs to inspire your next big home project.” ?The Editorialist
Filled with beautiful, vivid photographs, Trousdale is the definitive history of the architecture and design that defined both Beverly Hills and the ultimate American Dream. Trousdale Estates is a 410-acre enclave of large, luxurious homes in Beverly Hills, California. Primarily developed in the 1950s and ’60s, it quickly became famous for its concentration of celebrity residents and the unrestrained extravagance of its midcentury modern architecture. Often working with unlimited budgets, these designers created sprawling, elegant backdrops for the ultimate expression of the American Dream in the mid-to-late twentieth century. In Trousdale, Price explores the architectural backgrounds, details, and floor plans of the amazing homes, giving readers an inside view of the world-famous Beverly Hills style. Lavish new photography is interspersed with archival and historic images, illustrating the glamour of Trousdale both then and now. Some of the architects of Trousdale include Lloyd Wright, Wallace Neff, Paul R. Williams, Harold Levitt, and A. Quincy Jones.