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George Vernon Russell (September 4, 1905 – March 17, 1989) was an American architect. He designed many residential properties and commercial buildings in Los Angeles, California. He also designed the masterplans and a library unit for the University of California, Riverside as well as the 1976 expansion of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
George Vernon Russell | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 4, 1905 |
| Died | March 17, 1989 Pasadena, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Washington |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Children | 2 |
George Vernon Russell was born on September 4, 1905, in San Bernardino, California.[1][2] He attended the California Institute of Technology for a year and graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington.[1][2] He also attended the École des Beaux-Arts at Fontainebleau in Fontainebleau, France in 1928.[1]
Russell began his career as a draughtsman in New York City.[2] With fellow architect Douglas Honnold, Russell designed the Alexander Kiam House in Los Angeles c. 1927.[3] He also became a movie set designer in Los Angeles in 1933.[2] A decade later, in 1937, Russell, Honnold and Arthur W. Hawes designed the Hollywood Reporter Building on Sunset Boulevard.[4]
During World War II, Russell designed air bases and units for the United States Army in England and Ireland.[2] After the war, he taught architecture at the University of Southern California.[2] Meanwhile, in 1946,[5] he was hired by William R. Wilkerson to design the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada; however, when Meyer Lansky acquired the building, he replaced him with his own architectural team.[6] Also in 1946, Russell and fellow architect Eduardo Jose Samaniego designed the JC Penney factory in Van Nuys.[7]
In 1950, Russell designed the Joyce Shoe Company Factory in Los Angeles.[8] He later designed the Republic Supply Co. building in San Leandro,[9] for which he won awards at the 1953 Berlin Trade Fair in Germany.[2] In 1952, he designed the Avery Adhesive Label Corporation Office Building in Monrovia, California.[10] He also designed the John J. Pike House at 6675 Whitley Terrace in Hollywood, for which he won a Merit Award in the Single Family Residence Category from the American Institute of Architects in 1954.[11] A few years later, he designed the Cate School in Carpinteria, for which he won the first prize from the Church Architectural Guild of America in 1958.[2]
Russell designed the master plans of the University of California, Riverside,[2] where he also designed the Library Unit II in 1963.[12] By 1976, he designed a three-story, 56,000-square-foot expansion of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.[2]
Russell became a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and served as the president of its Southern California chapter in 1958.[1][2]
Russell was married in 1942, and he had two children.[1] They lived in Pasadena, California.[2] He died on March 17, 1989.[1][2]
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