California Architecture for the Casual Traveler

California Architecture for the Casual Traveler California and the long Pacific coast of the Western United States is a territory of changing landscapes and wild diversity- in both lifestyles and architectural styles. California is a land of fire and rain and of tsunamis and drought.  Although from north to south its climate changes dramatically, California has a constant element that affects all building codes- the San Andreas Fault. In the links and resources on this page, you will find simple adobe homes of early Spanish colonists, glitzy homes of Hollywood movie stars, groundbreaking modernist architecture, playful amusement park buildings, wacky googie structures, historic bridges and stadia, and many other interesting and unusual building types. Visiting the San Francisco Area Marin County Civic Center by Frank Lloyd WrightSan Francisco Museum of Modern Art by Mario BottaUnited States Federal Building by Thom MayneCalifornia Academy of Sciences by Renzo PianoThe Golden Gate Bridge Along the Coast of California Historic Monterey Houses in MontereyBixby Bridge in Big SurSea Ranch Chapel in Gualala, by James HubbellHearst Castle in San Simeon, designed by Julia MorganHigh Style Spanish Revival Architecture in Santa Barbara Visiting the Los Angeles Area Los Angeles is an architectural kaleidoscope. As you explore the warm, southern California city, youll find odd contrasts. No matter. The sun of Southern California has attracted odd bedfellows, both in the movie industry and architectural practices. Here is just a taste of LA architecture: Disney Concert Hall by Frank GehryEmerson College Los Angeles by Thom MayneBinoculars Building in Venice by Frank GehryDiamond Ranch High School in Pomona by Thom MayneLA Museum of Contemporary Art by Arata IsozakiCase Study House #8  by Charles and Ray EamesThe Getty Center by Richard MeierEnnis Brown House by Frank Lloyd WrightHollyhock House by Frank Lloyd WrightThe Schindler Chace House by Rudolf SchindlerGeorge D. Sturges House by Frank Lloyd WrightTheme Building at LAXCentral Public Library by Bertram Grosvenor GoodhueCaltrans District 7 Headquarters by Thom Mayne Visiting the Palm Springs Area Within two hours of Hollywood, Palm Springs became the famous getaway for the movie elite. Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, and other movie stars built homes here in the 1940s and 1950s, the height of Mid-Century Modernism. Richard Neutra, Albert Frey, and others invented what became known as Desert Modernism. Midcentury Modern Architecture in Palm SpringsAlexander Homes: Houses by the Alexander Construction CompanyThe Elvis Honeymoon HideawayThe Annenberg Residence, Sunnylands by A. Quincy Jones in Rancho Mirage Visiting the San Diego Area Balboa Park, site of the influential Panama-California Exposition of 1915.  San Diego architect Irving Gill carried out the Mission Revival and Pueblo styles decided on by the organizers, but it was New Yorker Bertram G. Goodhue who gave the buildings the Spanish Baroque detailing known as Churrigueresque.  Exposition buildings such as Casa de Balboa and Casa del Prado ignited a Spanish Renaissance throughout the American Southwest. Well-Known Sports Venues in California Rose Bowl Stadium in PasadenaLevis Stadium in Santa ClaraLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum Architects of California Many of todays larger architectural firms have multiple offices, which often include California. For example, Richard Meier Partners Architects LLP has an office in Los Angeles. The following list of architects, however, are often associated with beginning their careers in California. They made their mark and settled in California. Julia MorganPaul WilliamsRichard NeutraDonald WexlerFrank GehryCharles and Ray EamesRudolph SchindlerWallace NeffA. Quincy JonesThom MayneBernard MaybeckIrving GillCharles and Henry GreeneCraig EllwoodJoseph Esherick Learn More with these Books Wallace Neff, Architect of Californias Golden Age by Alson Clark, 2000Toward a Simpler Way of Life: The Arts and Crafts Architects of California by Robert Winter, University of California Press, 1997Irving J. Gill: Architect, 1870 - 1936 by Marvin Rand, 2006Five California Architects by Esther McCoy and Randell Makinson, 1975On the Edge of the World: Four Architects in San Francisco at the Turn of the Century by Richard Longstreth, University of California Press, 1998California Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright by David Gebhard, 1997California Modern: The Architecture of Craig Ellwood by Neil Jackson, Princeton Architectural Press, 2002Spanish Colonial Style: Santa Barbara and the Architecture of James Osborne Craig and Mary McLaughlin Craig by Pamela Skewes-Cox and Robert Sweeney, 2015