Welton Becket

Welton Becket
Becket in front of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown Los Angeles
Born
Welton David Becket

(1902-08-08)August 8, 1902
Seattle, Washington, US
DiedJanuary 16, 1969(1969-01-16) (aged 66)
Los Angeles, California, US
Alma materUniversity of Washington
OccupationArchitect
Children2
PracticeWelton Becket and Associates
Buildings
DesignCentury City Master Plan

Welton David Becket (August 8, 1902 – January 16, 1969) was an American modern architect who designed many buildings in Los Angeles.

Biography

Becket was born in Seattle and graduated from the University of Washington program in Architecture in 1927 with a B.Arch. degree.[1]

He moved to Los Angeles in 1933 and formed a partnership with his University of Washington classmate Walter Wurdeman and Los Angeles architect Charles F. Plummer. Their first major commission was the Pan-Pacific Auditorium in 1935, which won them residential jobs from James Cagney, Robert Montgomery, and other film celebrities. Plummer died in 1939.

Their firm designed Bullock's Pasadena (1944) and several coporate headquarters. Wurdeman and Becket developed the concept of "total design," whereby their firm would be responsible for master planning, engineering, interiors, furniture, fixtures, landscaping, signage, and even (in the case of restaurants) menus, silverware, matchbooks, and napkins.[2]

The 3,000-seat Santa Monica Civic Auditorium; the project designer was Lou Naidorf and it opened in 1958

After Wurdeman's death in 1949, Becket formed Welton Becket and Associates and continued to grow the firm to the extent that it was one of the largest architectural offices in the world by the time of his death in 1969. In 1987, his firm was acquired by Ellerbe Associates, and the merged firm continued as Ellerbe Becket until the end of 2009, when it was acquired by AECOM. It is now known as Ellerbe Becket, an AECOM Company.[3]

Becket's buildings used unusual facade materials including ceramic tile and stainless steel grillwork, repetitive geometric patterns, and a heavy emphasis on walls clad in natural stone, particularly travertine and flagstone.

With The Walt Disney Company and the United States Steel Corporation, Becket's firm co-designed Disney's Contemporary Resort, which opened in 1971 at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. The Contemporary Resort was designed as a 14-story steel A-frame with a monorail running through the building. Modular guest rooms were assembled, finished, furnished, and fully equipped with their doors locked on the ground, then lifted by crane and inserted into the frame; however, it sometimes took multiple tries.[4] Welton Becket was elected a fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1952.

Becket's sons, Welton MacDonald Becket & Bruce Becket, are also practicing architects, as well as his nephew[5] MacDonald G. Becket and his granddaughter Alexandra Becket.[6]

Commissions

Selected works
Capitol Records Building (1956)
Humble Oil Headquarters (1963)
Pomona, California city hall (1969)
33 Washington Street Newark, New Jersey (1971)
Glendale Central Library (1973)

Becket's works include:[7]

Los Angeles

Greater Los Angeles

Elsewhere in California

Elsewhere in the US

International

References

  1. ^ "Welton David Becket , Sr". Pacific Coast Architecture Database. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  2. ^ Timberg, Scott (10 August 2002). "A Toast to a Man Who Left His Imprint on L.A." Los Angeles Times.
  3. ^ Reynolds, Christopher (6 March 2003). "L.A.'s Invisible Builder". Los Angeles Times.
  4. ^ "WW Goes to WDW at Yesterland.com: An Urban Legend about Disney's Contemporary". www.yesterland.com. Retrieved Jul 29, 2019.
  5. ^ AIA Journal 57-58 (1972), p. 58
  6. ^ Lubell, Sam (Dec 7, 2015). "Inhabiting a Legacy Los Angeles Magazine". Retrieved Jul 29, 2019.
  7. ^ "Welton Becket architectural drawings and photographs, 1913-2009, bulk 1930-1969".
  8. ^ "Thousands at Opening of New Ohrbach Store". Los Angeles Times. December 1, 1953. p. 18.
  9. ^ "'Copter Takes Group To Broadway-Valley". Valley Times. October 10, 1955.
  10. ^ a b c d e f "NEWSLETTERS – "Webb Spinner" – Del Webb Sun Cities Museum". delwebbsuncitiesmuseum.org. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
  11. ^ "Airport hotel completed". Los Angeles Times. December 23, 1962.
  12. ^ "Hyatt Regency New Orleans, New Orleans | 122830 | EMPORIS". Archived from the original on 2016-03-07.
Becket's Cinerama Dome, with Shrek 2 decorations
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Wurdeman