Welton Becket

Welton Becket
Born
Welton David Becket

(1902-08-08)August 8, 1902
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
DiedJanuary 16, 1969(1969-01-16) (aged 66)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Washington
OccupationArchitect
Children2
PracticeWelton Becket and Associates
Buildings
DesignCentury City Master Plan

Welton David Becket (August 8, 1902 – January 16, 1969) was an American modern architect who designed many buildings in Los Angeles, California.

Biography

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]

Commissions

Selected works
Capitol Records Building (1956)
Humble Oil Headquarters (1963)
Pomona, California city hall (1969)
33 Washington Street Newark, New Jersey (1971)
Glendale Central Library (1973)

Becket's works include:[7]

Los Angeles

Greater Los Angeles

Elsewhere in California

  • 100 California Street, San Francisco, 1960
  • Kaiser Center, Oakland, 1960
  • Robert McCulloch Residence, Palm Springs, 1962
  • McKesson Plaza, San Francisco, 1969
  • One California, San Francisco, 1969
  • One Market Plaza, San Francisco, 1972
  • Union Bank Building, San Francisco, 1972
  • Wells Fargo Plaza, San Diego, 1983

Elsewhere in the US

  • First National Bank of Arizona Building, Phoenix, AZ, 1950
  • Baptist Memorial Hospital, Kansas City, MO, 1953
  • Edens Plaza, Wilmette, IL, 1956
  • Park Central Mall, Phoenix, AZ, 1956
  • Sheraton Dallas Hotel (formerly the Adams Mark Dallas and Southland Center), Dallas, TX, 1959
  • Riviera Hotel and Casino expansion, Las Vegas, NV, 1959 (demolished)
  • Clark County Courthouse, Las Vegas, NV, 1961 (with Zick & Sharp)
  • Christown Mall, Phoenix, AZ, 1961[10]
  • Walt Whitman Shops, Huntington Station, NY, 1962
  • Biltmore Fashion Park, Phoenix, AZ, 1963
  • Hartford National Bank, Hartford, CT 1963
  • ExxonMobil Building (formerly Humble Oil Building) Houston, TX, 1963
  • McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, NV, 1963
  • Phillips Petroleum Building, Bartlesville, OK, 1964
  • Ford 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)
  • Gulf Life Tower (now known as the Riverplace Tower), Jacksonville, FL, 1967
  • Xerox Tower, Rochester, NY, 1967
  • Park Plaza Shopping Center, Oshkosh, WI, 1969
  • Park Plaza Mall, Oshkosh, WI, 1970, now City Center a commercial business center for Oshkosh.
  • PNC Plaza (formerly the Citizens Fidelity Plaza), Louisville, KY, 1971
  • Disney's Contemporary Resort, Lake Buena Vista, FL, 1971
  • Worcester Center, Worcester, MA, 1971
  • 33 Washington Street, Newark, NJ, 1971
  • Chase Tower (formerly the Bank One Center and Valley Bank Center), Phoenix, AZ, Project Designer MacDonald Becket, 1972
  • Grand Ole Opry House, Nashville, TN, 1972
  • Hyatt Regency, Knoxville, TN, 1972
  • Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY, 1972
  • One PNC Plaza, Pittsburgh, PA, 1972
  • Regions Center (formerly the AmSouth Center, AmSouth-Sonat Tower, and First National-Southern Natural Building), Birmingham, AL, 1972
  • Brady Sullivan Plaza, (formerly Hampshire Plaza), Manchester, NH, 1973
  • Chase Plaza, Lexington, KY, 1973
  • 100 Summer Street, Boston, MA, 1974
  • United Plaza, Philadelphia, PA, 1974
  • Hyatt Regency New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, 1976[12]
  • Reunion Tower, Dallas, TX, 1978
  • Hyatt Regency Hotel, Dallas, TX, 1978
  • Hyatt Regency Hotel, Washington DC 1978
  • Hyatt Regency Hotel, Louisville, KY, 1978
  • US Bank Plaza, Boise, ID, 1978
  • BNY Mellon Center, Pittsburgh, PA, 1980
  • One Tampa City Center (formerly the GTE Building) Tampa, FL, 1981
  • Stanton Tower, El Paso, TX, 1981
  • OneOK Plaza, Tulsa, OK, 1984 (with HKS, Inc.)
  • First Bank and Trust Tower, New Orleans, LA, 1987

International

  • Manila Jai Alai Building, Manila, Philippines, 1939 (with Walter Wurdeman) (demolished)
  • Hotel Tryp Habana Libre (formerly the Habana Hilton), Havana, Cuba, 1958
  • The Nile Ritz-Carlton, Cairo (formerly the Nile Hilton), Cairo, Egypt, 1959 (with Mahmoud Riad)
  • Southern Cross Hotel, Melbourne, Australia, 1962 (demolished 2003)
  • U.S. Embassy, Warsaw, Poland, 1963
  • Intourist Hotel, Moscow, Russia, 1976

References

  1. ^ "Welton David Becket , Sr". Pacific Coast Architecture Database. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  2. ^ Timberg, Scott (10 August 2002). "A Toast to a Man Who Left His Imprint on L.A." Los Angeles Times.
  3. ^ Reynolds, Christopher (6 March 2003). "L.A.'s Invisible Builder". Los Angeles Times.
  4. ^ "WW Goes to WDW at Yesterland.com: An Urban Legend about Disney's Contemporary". www.yesterland.com. Retrieved Jul 29, 2019.
  5. ^ AIA Journal 57-58 (1972), p. 58
  6. ^ Lubell, Sam (Dec 7, 2015). "Inhabiting a Legacy Los Angeles Magazine". Retrieved Jul 29, 2019.
  7. ^ "Welton Becket architectural drawings and photographs, 1913-2009, bulk 1930-1969".
  8. ^ "Thousands at Opening of New Ohrbach Store". Los Angeles Times. December 1, 1953. p. 18.
  9. ^ "'Copter Takes Group To Broadway-Valley". Valley Times. October 10, 1955.
  10. ^ a b c d e f "NEWSLETTERS – "Webb Spinner" – Del Webb Sun Cities Museum". delwebbsuncitiesmuseum.org. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
  11. ^ "Airport hotel completed". Los Angeles Times. December 23, 1962.
  12. ^ "Hyatt Regency New Orleans, New Orleans | 122830 | EMPORIS". Archived from the original on 2016-03-07.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Welton Becket.
Becket's Cinerama Dome, with Shrek 2 decorations.
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