WHL Design - Interior Design - Las Vegas
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Personnel
    • Glossary
  • Portfolio
    • Hospitality
    • Corporate
    • Retail
    • Multi-Family
  • Services
  • Blog
  • Contact Us

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 2012

1/16/2012

0 Comments

 
Today prompted us to take a look at some of the prominent African American Citizens that have made contributions to the field of Architecture and Interior Design. One of the more prominent was Paul Williams.
Picture
African American Architect, Paul Williams
Picture


Born in 1894, Paul practiced largely in Southern California and designed the homes of numerous stars including Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball/Desi Arnaz,Lon Chaney, and Charles Correll. He also designed many public and private buildings. 



Picture
Orphaned at the age of four, Williams was the only African American student in his elementary school. He studied at the Los Angeles School of Art and Design and at the Los Angeles branch of the New York Beaux-Arts Institute of Design Atelier, subsequently working as a landscape architect. He went on to attend the University of Southern California, School of Engineering, designing several residential buildings while still a student there. Williams became a certified architect in 1921, and the first certified African American architect west of the Mississippi.

Williams won an architectural competition at age 25 and three years later opened his own office. Known as an outstanding draftsman, he perfected the skill of rendering drawings "upside down." This skill was developed so that his clients (who may have been uncomfortable sitting next to a black architect) could see the drawings rendered right side up across the table from him. Struggling to gain attention, he served on the first
Los Angeles City Planning Commission in 1920. From 1921 through 1924 Williams worked for Los Angeles architect John C. Austin, eventually becoming chief draftsman, before establishing his own office. Williams became the first African-American member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1923. In 1939, he won the AIA Award of Merit for his design of the MCA Building in Los Angeles (now headquarters of the Paradigm Talent Agency).

Some of his famous work:

Paul Passed away in 1980 and is remembered for this quotation…

 "If I allow the fact that I am a Negro to checkmate my will to do, now, I will inevitably form the habit of being defeated."


-Larry
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Subscribe

    Enter your email below to be notified when we post a new blog!

    Enter your email address:


    Author

    WHL Design Group is an Interior Design firm in Las Vegas, NV

    Arc​hives

    March 2021
    August 2020
    March 2020
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2013
    August 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011

    Categories

    All
    2012
    2012 Design Trends
    2013
    2016
    2017
    9/11
    Affordable
    African American
    Architect
    Art
    Art Placement
    Artwork
    Bathroom
    Campus
    Charity
    Christmas
    Christmas Can Cure
    Christmas Decor
    Clean
    Color
    Comparison
    Construction
    Custom Made
    Dallas
    Decor
    Decorating
    Decorating Advice
    Decorations
    Design
    Design Advice
    Design Advise
    Design Process
    Design Segment
    Disney
    Diy
    Donation
    Eureka
    Floating Furniture
    Food
    Fox
    Fox5
    Furniture
    Furniture Placement
    Get Away
    Glossary
    Golf
    Gregorys
    Guest Rooms
    Guinn Center
    Hd Expo
    Headquarters
    Hector Velez
    Hgtv
    Holiday Decor
    Holidays
    Home Decor
    Home Design
    Hospitality Design
    Hospitality Design Expo
    Hotel
    Hotels
    Idec
    Interior Decorating
    Interior Decorator
    Interior Design
    Interior Designer
    Kitchen
    Kitchen Design
    Las Vegas
    Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
    Las Vegas Police
    Lvmpd
    Mesquite
    Metro
    Military Art
    Minimal
    Mlk
    Moon Bar
    More
    National Constitution Center’s Art Of The American Soldier Exhibition
    Nevada
    News
    Non-Profit
    NV
    Office Design
    Online Inteirior Design
    Paint
    Painting
    Painting Tips
    Paul Williams
    Playroom
    Radford University
    Recreate The Space
    Recycle
    Recycled Furniture
    Recycled Interior
    Recyled Decor
    Relax
    Rendering
    Reproduction
    Reproduction Furniture
    Resort
    Reuse
    Rising Star Sports Ranch
    Road Trip
    Room Service Robot
    Seasons
    Sept 11
    Sheriff Douglas C. Gilespie
    Space Planning
    Sports
    Style
    Sunrise Children's Hospital
    Tenant Improvement
    Thanksgiving
    Timeless
    Trends
    Vacation
    Vegas
    Virtual Design
    Virtual Designer
    Virtual Interior Design
    Ward Howes Lyden
    Whl
    Whl Commercial
    Whl Design
    Whl Designgroup
    Whl Design Group
    Woc
    World Of Color
    Wounded Warrior Project

    RSS Feed

PLANNING · INTERIOR DESIGN · PROJECT COORDINATION · PROCUREMENT
Copyright © WHL Design Group, PC     -     Site Map
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Personnel
    • Glossary
  • Portfolio
    • Hospitality
    • Corporate
    • Retail
    • Multi-Family
  • Services
  • Blog
  • Contact Us