William Pereira
Encyclopedia
William Leonard Pereira (April 25, 1909 – November 13, 1985) was an American
architect
from Chicago
, Illinois
, of Portuguese
ancestry who was noted for his futuristic designs of landmark buildings such as the Transamerica Pyramid
in San Francisco
. Remarkably prolific, he worked out of Los Angeles
, and was known for his love of science fiction
and expensive cars, but mostly for his unmistakable style of architecture
, which helped define the look of mid-20th century America
.
, Pereira graduated from the School of Architecture, University of Illinois
and began his career
in his home city. He had some of his earliest architectural experience helping to draft the master plan for the 1933 "A Century of Progress" Chicago World's Fair
. With his brother, Hal Pereira
, he designed the Esquire Theater at 58 East Oak Street, considered one of Chicago's best examples of Art Deco
style.
He had two wives, former model and actress Margaret McConnell (married June 24, 1934) and Bronya Galef; the latter marriage ending with his death. He has two children, William Pereira, Jr., and a daughter, Monica Pereira, a Spanish teacher.
William Pereira died of cancer at age 76 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
in Los Angeles. At his request, no funeral services were planned.
and designed the first buildings for the Motion Picture Country House
in Woodland Hills, California
, which was dedicated September 27, 1942.
Pereira also had a brief stint as a Hollywood art director. He shared an Academy Award
for Best Special Effects
for the action/adventure movie
Reap the Wild Wind
(1942
). He was production designer of the drama Jane Eyre
(1944
), and of the war drama Since You Went Away
(1944
) . Pereira was also the producer
of the noir
crime/drama Johnny Angel
(1945
), and of the Joan Fontaine drama From This Day Forward (1946
).
Though his buildings were often quite stark and sterile in their appearance (owing largely to the science fiction of the era), they were noted for their functional style with a certain flair that made them unmistakable. He took pride in the concept of designing for the future. A great deal of Pereira's "futurist" style is owed to his longtime design collaborator James Langenheim, who had created the initial design for the Theme Building at LAX. The initials "J.L." have appeared as the designer's signature on a number of blueprints for Pereira projects including the similarly futuristic library at UC Irvine, but it is unsure if the initials are Langenheim's.
In 1949, Pereira became a professor of architecture at the University of Southern California
. He then formed a partnership with fellow architect and classmate, Charles Luckman
, in the early 1950s. The firm, Pereira & Luckman
, grew into one of the nation's busiest. The duo designed some of Los Angeles's most well-known buildings, including the famed "Theme Building
" at Los Angeles International Airport
(in collaboration with Paul Williams
and Welton Becket
).
He parted with Luckman in 1959. Afterward, he formed the third and final company of his career, "William L. Pereira & Associates." In the 1960s and 1970s, he and his team completed over 250 projects, including drawing up the master plans for the Los Angeles International Airport expansion and developing the master plan for the 93,000 acre (376 km²) city of Irvine, California
, which put his photograph on the cover of Time Magazine in September 1963. He later worked with Ian McHarg
on the plan for the new town
of The Woodlands, Texas
.
Pereira's buildings were easily identified by their unmistakable style, often taking unusual forms such as pyramid
s and ziggurat
s. They usually projected a grand presence, heavyset in appearance and often sitting atop "pedestals" that were themselves an integral part of the building. Many of his buildings were complemented by water features and some were almost entirely surrounded by water. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art
, for instance, was a complex of three Googie-esque buildings rising up out of a lake and interconnected by a series of causeways and bridges.
Pereira designed the campus plans of the University of Southern California
the University of California, Irvine
, and Pepperdine University
.
His material of choice in creating his unique geometric forms was pre-cast concrete
. Working in this medium, he could create his impressive facades by simply attaching them as panels on to the steel frame of the building.
were the CBS Television City
, the Los Angeles County Art Museum, and the Disneyland Hotel
in Anaheim
. He is also responsible for creating the monumental Spanish-inspired facades that defined Robinson's department stores for nearly 20 years, and he was the architect of Pepperdine University at Malibu, named by the "Princeton Review" as the most beautiful college campus in America. Out of his immense body of work, three have really stood out in the public mind: the master-planned cities of Irvine
and Newport Beach
, and the Transamerica Pyramid
in San Francisco
.
His most praised and criticized work was probably the Transamerica building, which was completed in 1972. It was first panned as an intrusion on the city's skyline, but has been accepted as having more character than the buildings around it and as being an oddly creative city symbol.
Perhaps his greatest lasting legacy besides his buildings are the numerous respected architects of today who came out of both Pereira's firm and the classes he taught at USC
, including Gin Wong, William Blurock, and Frank Gehry
. Pereira's firm was taken over upon his death by his two primary cohorts, Scott Johnson and Bill Fain.
Johnson Fain
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
from Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, of Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
ancestry who was noted for his futuristic designs of landmark buildings such as the Transamerica Pyramid
Transamerica Pyramid
The Transamerica Pyramid is the tallest skyscraper in the San Francisco skyline and one of its most iconic. Although the building no longer houses the headquarters of the Transamerica Corporation, it is still strongly associated with the company and is depicted in the company's logo...
in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. Remarkably prolific, he worked out of Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, and was known for his love of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and expensive cars, but mostly for his unmistakable style of architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
, which helped define the look of mid-20th century America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Personal life
Born in Chicago, IllinoisIllinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Pereira graduated from the School of Architecture, University of Illinois
University of Illinois School of Architecture
The University of Illinois School of Architecture is an academic unit with in the College of Fine & Applied Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign....
and began his career
Career
Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life ". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work ....
in his home city. He had some of his earliest architectural experience helping to draft the master plan for the 1933 "A Century of Progress" Chicago World's Fair
World's Fair
World's fair, World fair, Universal Exposition, and World Expo are various large public exhibitions held in different parts of the world. The first Expo was held in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom, in 1851, under the title "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All...
. With his brother, Hal Pereira
Hal Pereira
Hal Pereira was an American art director and production designer....
, he designed the Esquire Theater at 58 East Oak Street, considered one of Chicago's best examples of Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
style.
William Pereira died of cancer at age 76 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Originally established as Kaspare Cohn Hospital in 1902, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, tertiary 958-bed hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre located in Los Angeles, California, US. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over...
in Los Angeles. At his request, no funeral services were planned.
Career
In the 1930s, he and Hal moved to Los Angeles. After working as a solo architect, Pereira was hired by the Motion Picture Relief FundMotion Picture & Television Fund
The Motion Picture & Television Fund is a charitable organization that offers assistance and care to those in the motion picture and television industries with limited or no resources...
and designed the first buildings for the Motion Picture Country House
Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital
The Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital is a retirement community, with individual cottages, and a fully licensed, acute-care hospital, located at 23388 Mulholland Drive in Woodland Hills, California...
in Woodland Hills, California
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
Woodland Hills is a district in the city of Los Angeles, California.Woodland Hills is located in the southwestern area of the San Fernando Valley, east of Calabasas and west of Tarzana, with Warner Center in its northern section...
, which was dedicated September 27, 1942.
Pereira also had a brief stint as a Hollywood art director. He shared an Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Special Effects
Academy Award for Visual Effects
The Academy Award for Visual Effects is an Academy Award given for the best achievement in visual effects.-History of the award:The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences first recognized the technical contributions of special effects to movies at its inaugural dinner in 1928, presenting a...
for the action/adventure movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
Reap the Wild Wind
Reap the Wild Wind
Reap the Wild Wind is a serialized story written by Thelma Strabel in 1940 for The Saturday Evening Post, which was the basis for the 1942 film starring Ray Milland, John Wayne, Paulette Goddard, Robert Preston, and Susan Hayward, and directed by Cecil B. DeMille, his second picture to be filmed in...
(1942
1942 in film
The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...
). He was production designer of the drama Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre (1944 film)
Jane Eyre is a classic film adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel of the same name, made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by William Goetz, Kenneth Macgowan, and Orson Welles . The screenplay was by John Houseman, Aldous Huxley, Henry Koster, and Robert...
(1944
1944 in film
The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....
), and of the war drama Since You Went Away
Since You Went Away
Since You Went Away is a 1944 film distributed by United Artists, a big-budget epic about the American home front during World War II. It was directed by John Cromwell and adapted and produced by David O. Selznick from the novel Since You Went Away: Letters to a Soldier from His Wife by Margaret...
(1944
1944 in film
The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....
) . Pereira was also the producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
of the noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
crime/drama Johnny Angel
Johnny Angel
Johnny Angel is a film noir directed by Edwin L. Marin, written by Frank Gruber and Steve Fisher from the novel Mr. Angel Comes Aboard by Charles Gordon Booth. The movie features George Raft, Claire Trevor, Signe Hasso, and Hoagy Carmichael....
(1945
1945 in film
The year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins....
), and of the Joan Fontaine drama From This Day Forward (1946
1946 in film
The year 1946 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*November 21 - William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York featuring an ensemble cast including Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell.*December 20 - Frank Capra's It's a...
).
Though his buildings were often quite stark and sterile in their appearance (owing largely to the science fiction of the era), they were noted for their functional style with a certain flair that made them unmistakable. He took pride in the concept of designing for the future. A great deal of Pereira's "futurist" style is owed to his longtime design collaborator James Langenheim, who had created the initial design for the Theme Building at LAX. The initials "J.L." have appeared as the designer's signature on a number of blueprints for Pereira projects including the similarly futuristic library at UC Irvine, but it is unsure if the initials are Langenheim's.
In 1949, Pereira became a professor of architecture at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
. He then formed a partnership with fellow architect and classmate, Charles Luckman
Charles Luckman
Charles Luckman was a businessman and an American architect, famous as the "Boy Wonder of American Business" when he was named president of the Pepsodent toothpaste company in 1939 at the age of thirty...
, in the early 1950s. The firm, Pereira & Luckman
Pereira & Luckman
Pereira & Luckman was a Los Angeles, California architectural firm. The firm designed the Theme Building at Los Angeles International Airport and employed Paul Williams ....
, grew into one of the nation's busiest. The duo designed some of Los Angeles's most well-known buildings, including the famed "Theme Building
Theme Building
The Theme Building is a landmark structure at the Los Angeles International Airport within the Westchester neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles. It opened in 1961, and is an example of the Mid-Century modern influenced design school known as "Googie" or "Populuxe."The distinctive white building...
" at Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles Area, the second-most populated metropolitan area in the United States. It is most often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX, with the letters pronounced individually...
(in collaboration with Paul Williams
Paul Williams (architect)
Paul Revere Williams, FAIA was a Los Angeles-based, American architect. He practiced largely in Southern California and designed the homes of numerous stars including Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball/Desi Arnaz, Lon Chaney, and Charles Correll...
and Welton Becket
Welton Becket
Welton Becket was an architect who designed many buildings in Los Angeles, California.Becket was born in Seattle, Washington and graduated from the University of Washington program in Architecture in 1927 with a Bachelor of Architecture degree .He settled in Los Angeles in 1933 and formed a...
).
Irvine, California
Irvine is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California...
, which put his photograph on the cover of Time Magazine in September 1963. He later worked with Ian McHarg
Ian McHarg
Ian L. McHarg was born in Clydebank, Scotland and became a landscape architect and a renowned writer on regional planning using natural systems. He was the founder of the department of landscape architecture at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States. His 1969 book Design with Nature...
on the plan for the new town
New town
A new town is a specific type of a planned community, or planned city, that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are uncommon in new...
of The Woodlands, Texas
The Woodlands, Texas
The Woodlands is a master-planned community and a Census-designated place in the U.S. state of Texas within the metropolitan area. The population of the CDP was 55,649 at the 2000 census—a 90 percent increase over its 1990 population. According to the 2010 census, The Woodlands' population rose...
.
Pereira's buildings were easily identified by their unmistakable style, often taking unusual forms such as pyramid
Pyramid
A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...
s and ziggurat
Ziggurat
Ziggurats were massive structures built in the ancient Mesopotamian valley and western Iranian plateau, having the form of a terraced step pyramid of successively receding stories or levels.Notable ziggurats include the Great Ziggurat of Ur near Nasiriyah, Iraq; the Ziggurat of Aqar Quf near...
s. They usually projected a grand presence, heavyset in appearance and often sitting atop "pedestals" that were themselves an integral part of the building. Many of his buildings were complemented by water features and some were almost entirely surrounded by water. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is an art museum in Los Angeles, California. It is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles, adjacent to the George C. Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits....
, for instance, was a complex of three Googie-esque buildings rising up out of a lake and interconnected by a series of causeways and bridges.
Pereira designed the campus plans of the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
the University of California, Irvine
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...
, and Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University is an independent, private, medium-sized university affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The university's campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, United States, near Malibu, is the location for Seaver College, the School of...
.
His material of choice in creating his unique geometric forms was pre-cast concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
. Working in this medium, he could create his impressive facades by simply attaching them as panels on to the steel frame of the building.
Legacy
By the time of his death, Pereira had over 400 projects to his name. Among the structures he designed throughout Southern CaliforniaSouthern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
were the CBS Television City
CBS Television City
CBS Television City is a television studio complex located in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at the corner of North Fairfax Avenue...
, the Los Angeles County Art Museum, and the Disneyland Hotel
Disneyland Hotel (California)
The Disneyland Hotel is a resort hotel located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, owned by the Walt Disney Company and operated through its Parks and Resorts division. Opened in October 1955 as a motor inn owned and operated by Jack Wrather under an agreement with Walt Disney, the...
in Anaheim
Anaheim, California
Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States...
. He is also responsible for creating the monumental Spanish-inspired facades that defined Robinson's department stores for nearly 20 years, and he was the architect of Pepperdine University at Malibu, named by the "Princeton Review" as the most beautiful college campus in America. Out of his immense body of work, three have really stood out in the public mind: the master-planned cities of Irvine
Irvine, California
Irvine is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California...
and Newport Beach
Newport Beach, California
Newport Beach, incorporated in 1906, is a city in Orange County, California, south of downtown Santa Ana. The population was 85,186 at the 2010 census.The city's median family income and property values consistently place high in national rankings...
, and the Transamerica Pyramid
Transamerica Pyramid
The Transamerica Pyramid is the tallest skyscraper in the San Francisco skyline and one of its most iconic. Although the building no longer houses the headquarters of the Transamerica Corporation, it is still strongly associated with the company and is depicted in the company's logo...
in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
.
His most praised and criticized work was probably the Transamerica building, which was completed in 1972. It was first panned as an intrusion on the city's skyline, but has been accepted as having more character than the buildings around it and as being an oddly creative city symbol.
Perhaps his greatest lasting legacy besides his buildings are the numerous respected architects of today who came out of both Pereira's firm and the classes he taught at USC
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
, including Gin Wong, William Blurock, and Frank Gehry
Frank Gehry
Frank Owen Gehry, is a Canadian American Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles, California.His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions...
. Pereira's firm was taken over upon his death by his two primary cohorts, Scott Johnson and Bill Fain.
External links
Johnson Fain