Architect · United States · 1908-1985
William Pereira Biography, Buildings and Best Books
American architect (1908-1985) who shaped modern California with the Transamerica Pyramid, the Geisel Library, LACMA and the master plan of Irvine.
Photo: Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Biography
William Pereira (1908-1985) was an American architect and planner whose futuristic buildings defined the image of Los Angeles and California after the Second World War. His office designed the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco, the Geisel Library at the University of California, San Diego, and the original Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and planned the new city of Irvine.
Chicago and Hollywood
Pereira was born in Chicago in 1908 and studied architecture at the University of Illinois, graduating in 1930. He designed cinemas and worked as an art director in Hollywood, where he shared the 1942 Academy Award for special effects for Reap the Wild Wind.
Pereira and Luckman
After the war he taught at the University of Southern California and in 1950 formed a partnership with Charles Luckman. Pereira and Luckman designed CBS Television City and, with Welton Becket and Paul R. Williams, the master plan for Los Angeles International Airport and its Theme Building.
William L. Pereira and Associates
From 1958 his own firm built some of the most recognisable modern buildings in California: the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (1965), the Geisel Library at UC San Diego (1970), a concrete and glass tree of reading rooms, and the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco (1972), for many years the city’s tallest building. He also planned the University of California, Irvine, and the surrounding new city.
Legacy
Pereira appeared on the cover of Time in 1963. He died in Los Angeles in 1985. Several of his buildings have been demolished, but the Transamerica Pyramid and the Geisel Library remain landmarks of mid-century futurism.
William Pereira
The only full monograph on Pereira, with Julius Shulman’s photographs of the Transamerica Pyramid, the Geisel Library and his Californian campuses.
View on Amazon
Timeline
- 1908Born on 25 April in Chicago.
- 1930Graduates in architecture from the University of Illinois.
- 1942Shares the Academy Award for special effects for Reap the Wild Wind.
- 1950Forms Pereira and Luckman with Charles Luckman.
- 1958Founds William L. Pereira and Associates.
- 1965Los Angeles County Museum of Art opens.
- 1970Geisel Library opens at UC San Diego.
- 1972Transamerica Pyramid is completed in San Francisco.
- 1985Dies on 13 November in Los Angeles.
Best Books on William Pereira
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is William Pereira known for?
William Pereira is known for the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco, the Geisel Library at UC San Diego, the original LACMA buildings, the LAX Theme Building with Pereira and Luckman, and the master plan of Irvine.
Did William Pereira win an Oscar?
Yes. He shared the 1942 Academy Award for Best Special Effects for the film Reap the Wild Wind.
Who designed the Transamerica Pyramid?
The Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco, completed in 1972, was designed by William Pereira and his firm William L. Pereira and Associates.
What is the best book on William Pereira?
William Pereira by James Steele, with photographs by Julius Shulman (Princeton Architectural Press, 2004), is the main monograph on his work.
Is the Geisel Library Brutalist?
The Geisel Library is often called Brutalist for its exposed concrete, but Pereira described it as a tree, and it is also seen as an example of mid-century futurism.
