Welton David Becket (August 8, 1902 – January 16, 1969) was an American modern architect who designed many buildings in Los Angeles, California .
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Welton Becket
Born Welton David Becket
(1902-08-08 ) August 8, 1902Died January 16, 1969(1969-01-16) (aged 66) Alma mater University of Washington Occupation Architect Children 2 Practice Welton Becket and Associates Buildings Design Century City Master Plan
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Becket was born in Seattle, Washington and graduated from the University of Washington program in Architecture in 1927 with a Bachelor of Architecture degree (B.Arch. ).[1]
He moved to Los Angeles in 1933 and formed a partnership with his University of Washington classmate Walter Wurdeman and Angeleno architect Charles F. Plummer . Their first major commission was the Pan-Pacific Auditorium in 1935, which won them residential jobs from James Cagney , Robert Montgomery , and other film celebrities. Plummer died in 1939.
The successor firm Wurdeman and Becket went on to design Bullock's Pasadena (1944) and a couple of corporate headquarters. Wurdeman and Becket developed the concept of "total design," whereby their firm would be responsible for master planning, engineering, interiors, furniture, fixtures, landscaping, signage, and even (in the case of restaurants) menus, silverware, matchbooks, and napkins.[2]
The 3,000-seat Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Project Designer Lou Naidorf, opened in 1958. After Wurdeman's death in 1949, Becket formed Welton Becket and Associates and continued to grow the firm to the extent that it was one of the largest architectural offices in the world by the time of his death in 1969. In 1987, his firm was acquired by Ellerbe Associates, and the merged firm continued as Ellerbe Becket until the end of 2009, when it was acquired by AECOM . It is now known as Ellerbe Becket, an AECOM Company.[3]
Becket's buildings used unusual facade materials such as ceramic tile and stainless steel grillwork, repetitive geometric patterns, and a heavy emphasis on walls clad in natural stone, particularly travertine and flagstone .
With The Walt Disney Company and the United States Steel Corporation , Becket's firm co-designed Disney's Contemporary Resort , which opened in 1971 at Walt Disney World Resort . The Contemporary was designed as a 14-story steel A-frame with a monorail running through the building. Modular guest rooms were assembled, finished, furnished, fully equipped and their doors locked, on the ground, then lifted by crane and inserted into the frame; however, this sometimes took multiple tries.[4]
Welton Becket was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1952.
Becket's sons, Welton MacDonald Becket & Bruce Becket, are also practicing architects, as well as his nephew[5] MacDonald G. Becket and granddaughter Alexandra Becket.[6]
Glendale Central Library (1973)
Becket's extensive list of credits includes:[7]
Pan-Pacific Auditorium , Los Angeles , CA, 1935 (with Walter Wurdeman ) (destroyed by fire)Jones Dog & Cat Hospital, West Hollywood, California , 1938 (with Walter Wurdeman )
Manila Jai Alai Building , Manila , Philippines, 1939 (with Walter Wurdeman ) (demolished)General Petroleum Building , Los Angeles, CA, 1949 (with Walter Wurdeman )First National Bank of Arizona Building, Phoenix, AZ, 1950
Fifth Street Store Building , Los Angeles, CA, 1952 renovation[8] Welton Becket Residence, Los Angeles, CA, 1952
Los Altos Center Mall, Long Beach, CA 1953Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center , Los Angeles, CA, 1953Baptist Memorial Hospital, Kansas City, MO, 1953
Parker Center (formerly the Police Administration Building ), Los Angeles, CA, 1955 (demolished)The Broadway department store (now Walmart) at Panorama City Shopping Center , Panorama City, Los Angeles , CA, 1955[9] The Beverly Hilton , Beverly Hills , CA, 1955The Broadway Orange County, at the original Anaheim Plaza , Anaheim, CA, 1955 (demolished)Capitol Records Building , Los Angeles, CA, Project Designer Lou Naidorf, 1956Edens Plaza , Wilmette, Illinois , 1956Park Central Mall , Phoenix, AZ, 1956Ace Hotel Los Angeles (formerly the Texaco Building ) on Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 1957[10] Santa Monica Civic Auditorium , Santa Monica , CA, 1958Hotel Tryp Habana Libre (formerly the Habana Hilton ), Havana , Cuba , 1958The Nile Ritz-Carlton, Cairo (formerly the Nile Hilton ), Cairo , Egypt , 1959 (with Mahmoud Riad )Sheraton Dallas Hotel (formerly the Adams Mark Dallas and Southland Center ), Dallas , TX, 1959Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena , Los Angeles, CA, 1959 (demolished)Riviera Hotel and Casino expansion, Las Vegas, NV, 1959 (demolished)Los Angeles Customs House and Federal Office Building, Los Angeles, CA, 1960 (with Albert C. Martin and Paul R. Williams )
100 California Street , San Francisco, CA, 1960Kaiser Center , Oakland , CA, 1960Clark County Courthouse, Las Vegas, NV, 1961 (with Zick & Sharp )
Grossmont Center , La Mesa, CA, 1961[10] Christown Mall , Phoenix, AZ, 1961[10] Robert McCulloch Residence, Palm Springs, CA, 1962
Petersen Automotive Museum (formerly a Seibu and Ohrbach's department store), Los Angeles, CA, 1962Walt Whitman Shops , Huntington Station, NY, 1962Southern Cross Hotel , Melbourne , Australia, 1962 (demolished 2003)Interiors of the new Los Angeles International Airport, 1962 [ citation needed ]
McCulloch Building (now Homewood Suites by Hilton LAX ) Los Angeles, CA, 1962[10]
Airport Marina Hotel , Westchester, Los Angeles , 1961-2[11] Security First National Bank, Los Angeles, CA, 1963 (demolished)
U.S. Embassy , Warsaw, Poland, 1963Cinerama Dome , Los Angeles, CA, 1963Century City (masterplan), Los Angeles, CA, 1963Gateway West Building , Century City, Los Angeles, CA, 1963Biltmore Fashion Park , Phoenix, AZ, 1963Hartford National Bank , Hartford, CT 1963ExxonMobil Building (formerly Humble Oil Building) Houston, TX, 1963McCarran International Airport , Las Vegas, NV, 1963Orange Civic Center , Orange, CA, 1963Westfield Century City (formally Century City Mall) Century City, Los Angeles, CA, 1964Phillips Petroleum Building , Bartlesville, OK, 1964Federal Building , Los Angeles, CA, 1964North American Aviation Building, Los Angeles, 1964
Los Angeles Music Center (officially the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County ), which includes Dorothy Chandler Pavilion , Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson Theater , Los Angeles, CA, 1964Ford Pavilion of the 1964 New York World's Fair , New York City, NY, 1964 (demolished)General Electric Pavilion of the 1964 New York World's Fair, New York City, NY, 1964 (demolished)Mutual Savings and Loan Building, Pasadena, CA, 1964
Pauley Pavilion at UCLA (officially the Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion ), Los Angeles, CA, 1965Airport Center Building (now Hyatt Place LAX / Century Blvd ) Los Angeles, CA, 1965[10]
Santa Monica Shores Apartments, Santa Monica CA, 1967
Gulf Life Tower (now known as the Riverplace Tower ), Jacksonville, FL, 1967Xerox Tower , Rochester, New York, 1967Fashion Island , Newport Beach, CA, 1967 (with William Pereira )5900 Wilshire , Los Angeles, CA, 1968 (with William Pereira)La Habra Fashion Square , La Habra, CA, 1968 (Welton Becket and Associates)City Hall , Pomona , CA, Project Designer Marvin Taff, 1969Equitable Life Building , Los Angeles, 1969McKesson Plaza , San Francisco, CA, 1969One California , San Francisco, CA, 1969Park Plaza Shopping Center, Oshkosh, WI, 1969
800 Wilshire , Los Angeles, CA, 1970Park Plaza Mall , Oshkosh, WI , 1970, now City Center a commercial business center for Oshkosh.PNC Plaza (formerly the Citizens Fidelity Plaza ), Louisville , KY, 1971Beverly Wilshire Hotel expansion, Beverly Hills, CA, 1971[10] Disney's Contemporary Resort , Lake Buena Vista , FL, 1971Worcester Center , Worcester, MA , 197133 Washington Street, Newark, New Jersey , 1971
Chase Tower (formerly the Bank One Center and Valley Bank Center ), Phoenix , AZ, Project Designer MacDonald Becket , 1972Grand Ole Opry House , Nashville, TN, 1972Hyatt Regency , Knoxville, TN, 1972Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum , Uniondale, New York , 1972One Market Plaza , San Francisco, CA, 1972Union Bank Building , San Francisco, CA, 1972One PNC Plaza , Pittsburgh, PA, 1972Regions Center (formerly the AmSouth Center , AmSouth-Sonat Tower , and First National-Southern Natural Building ), Birmingham , AL, 1972Brady Sullivan Plaza , (formerly Hampshire Plaza), Manchester, N.H., 1973Glendale Central Library , Glendale , CA, Project Designer, Marvin Taff, 1973Chase Plaza, Lexington, KY, 1973
100 Summer Street , Boston , MA, 1974United Plaza, Philadelphia, PA, 1974
Hyatt Regency New Orleans , New Orleans , LA, 1976[12] Intourist Hotel, Moscow, Russia, 1976
Reunion Tower , Dallas, TX, 1978Hyatt Regency Hotel , Dallas, TX, 1978Hyatt Regency Hotel, Washington, D. C. 1978
Hyatt Regency Hotel, Louisville, KY, 1978
US Bank Plaza , Boise, ID, 1978BNY Mellon Center , Pittsburgh, PA, 1980One Tampa City Center (formerly the GTE Building) Tampa, FL, 1981Stanton Tower, El Paso, TX, 1981
Wells Fargo Plaza , San Diego, CA, 1983OneOK Plaza (commissioned as never-occupied headquarters of Cities Service Company ) , Tulsa, OK, 1984 (with HKS, Inc. )
First Bank and Trust Tower , New Orleans, LA, 1987Skyview Center, Los Angeles, CA, 1987 
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