Art & Design Fri June 22, 2012 A Trailblazing Black Architect
Who Helped Shape L.A. Originally published on Fri June 22, 2012
8:37 pm Paul Revere Williams began designing homes and
commercial buildings in the early 1920s. By the time he died in
1980, he had created some 2,500 buildings, most of them in and
around Los Angeles, but also around the globe. And he did it as
a pioneer: Paul Williams was African-American. He was the first
black architect to become a member of the American Institute of
Architects in 1923, and in 1957 he was inducted as the AIA's
first black fellow. His granddaughter, Karen E. Hudson, has been
chronicling Williams' life and work for the past two decades.
Her latest book, Paul R. Williams: Classic Hollywood Style,
focuses on some of the homes of his celebrity clients. They
feature many characteristics that were innovative when he used
them in the 1920s through the '70s and are considered common
practice now — like the patio as an extension of the house, and
hidden, retractable screens.