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William Leonard Pereira (April 25, 1909 – November 13, 1985) was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois, who was noted for his
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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
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.


Personal life

Pereira was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Sarah (Friedberg) and Saul Pereira. His paternal grandfather was of Portuguese Sephardi Jewish ancestry, and his other grandparents were Ashkenazi Jews. 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 "
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" 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 Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...
style. He had two wives, former model and actress Margaret McConnell (1910-2011, married June 24, 1934) and Bronya Galef; the latter marriage ending with his death. He has a son, William Pereira, Jr., and a daughter, Monica Pereira, a Spanish teacher. In stark contrast to his famous modernist design sensibilities, Bill Pereira once practiced out of a small collection of rustic looking offices on the site of what was then known as the ‘Buffalo Ranch,’ part of the much larger Irvine Ranch, two miles from where the UCI campus stands today, in Corona Del Mar/Newport Beach. He chose to live in the beautiful Emerald Bay community in north Laguna Beach, and in later life always considered Laguna as his home town. William Pereira died of cancer at age 76 at
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in Los Angeles. At his request, no funeral services were planned.


Career

Pereira moved to Los Angeles in 1933, and Hal also relocated there in that decade. After working as a solo architect, Pereira was hired by the
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and designed the first buildings for the Motion Picture Country House in
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, which was dedicated September 27, 1942. Pereira also had a brief stint as a Hollywood art director. He shared an
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for Best Special Effects for the action/adventure film '' Reap the Wild Wind'' (1942). He was the art director for " This Gun for Hire", Alan Ladd's first film. He was production designer of the drama ''
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'' (1943), 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). In 1949, Pereira became a professor of architecture at the
University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...
. 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 "
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" at
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(in collaboration with Paul Williams and
Welton Becket Welton David Becket (August 8, 1902 – January 16, 1969) was an American modern architect who designed many buildings in Los Angeles, California. Biography Becket was born in Seattle, Washington and graduated from the University of Washin ...
). 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 city of
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, which put his photograph on the cover of ''Time Magazine'' in September 1963. He later worked with
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on the plan for the
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of
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. Pereira also designed the campus plans of the
University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...
, the
University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and p ...
, and
Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and th ...
. His firm's designs varied greatly, but had many common design hallmarks, such as porous lattice-like facades, twinned vertical columns, elevated causeways, recessed windows, and perhaps most distinctly, a liberal use of lampposts, often custom designed. Many of his buildings were complemented by expansive water features. A pioneer in the design of heat-efficient buildings, he often employed concrete façade systems that shaded the windows, which were typically of bronze reflective glass, from direct sunlight. According to Pereira's daughter, Monica, one of his favorite buildings of his own was the complex he designed for the Municipal Water District in Los Angeles in 1963.


Legacy

By the time of his death, Pereira had over 400 projects to his name. Among the structures he designed throughout
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were
CBS Television City Television City, alternatively CBS Television City, is an American television studio complex located in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at the corner of Fairfax Avenue. Designed by architect William Pereira and Ch ...
, Fox Plaza, the Los Angeles County Art Museum, the Howard Johnson Hotel and Water Playground in Anaheim, and the Disneyland Hotel in
Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...
. 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 Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and th ...
at Malibu, named by the ''
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'' as the most beautiful college campus in America. His most praised and criticized work was probably the Transamerica building, which was completed in 1972. When the building was first unveiled in 1969 it was met with harsh criticism, 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
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, including Gin Wong and
Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry, , FAIA (; ; born ) is a Canadian-born American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become world-renowned attractions. His works are considered ...
. Pereira's firm was taken over upon his death by his two primary cohorts, Scott Johnson and Bill Fain.


See also

*
List of William Pereira buildings This is a list of buildings designed in whole or in part by architect William Pereira. They are listed by year and grouped into the three firms that Pereira belonged to. The first firm listed was based in Chicago, and the rest were in Los Angeles ...


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pereira, William Modernist architects from the United States Postmodern architects American urban planners Architectural theoreticians American production designers 1909 births 1985 deaths Artists from Chicago Architects from Los Angeles American people of Azorean descent American people of Portuguese-Jewish descent Jewish architects Best Visual Effects Academy Award winners Fellows of the American Institute of Architects People associated with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art University of Illinois alumni University of Southern California faculty Deaths from cancer in California 20th-century American architects University of Illinois School of Architecture alumni American people of Portuguese descent