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Welton Becket; Welton Becket & Associates (1902-1969)

The firm's indelible mark on the Los Angeles landscape includes such icons as Capitol Records, the Music Center, Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Bullock's Pasadena, the Beverly Hilton and Century City. These buildings helped form the architectural and social identity for the booming young city of Los Angeles in the Mid-Century era.

Welton Becket was born in Seattle, Washington in 1902. He received an architecture degree from the University of Washington in 1927 and also studied at the famed Ecole des Beaux Arts. In 1929 Becket began his architectural career as a draftsman at a small Los Angeles firm, and in 1933 he formed a partnership with his Washington classmate Walter Wurdeman. In 1935, Wurdeman and Becket created their first great L.A. landmark, the Pan Pacific Auditorium.

Throughout the following decades Wurdeman and Becket, and the successor film Welton Becket and Associates turned out many world-famous Los Angeles icons as well as numerous important structures around the world. At the time of Becket's death in 1969, Welton Becket and Associates was the largest architectural office in the world. (Text courtesy the The Los Angeles Modern Committee)

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Current Events:

Built by Becket: A Centennial Celebration On the evening of Tuesday, March 4, 2003 the Los Angeles Conservancy's Modern Committee will present a salute to the legendary Los Angeles architecture firm Welton Becket & Associates and its founder Welton Becket. This once-in-a-lifetime centennial event, to be held at Becket's landmark 1963 Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, reunites members of the firm's original staff, including Capitol Records designer Lou Naidorf, with contemporary critics and historians who will put the Becket legacy into perspective. Alan Hess, author of Googie and Viva Las Vegas, will explore the Becket firms' lasting impact on Southern California. "Welton Becket's greatest buildings are as much a part of Los Angeles as Christopher Wren's are of London. They cannot be divided from the way we see or think of L.A." says Hess. Rare memorabilia from the Becket family archive and vintage films will also be on display for one night only.

Included in the ticket price is an illustrated booklet featuring a self-guided driving tour of over twenty Becket buildings in greater Los Angeles. The following Saturday, March 8, the Modern Committee will present a docent-led tour of several of these classic buildings including the pristine 1964 Music Center Complex downtown and the lavish interiors of the recently refurbished Bullock's (Now Macy's) Pasadena. Tickets are $20 for members and $25 for non-members. Tickets include the March 4 lecture and film screening, the booklet and the March 8 tour. The March 4 event begins at 7:30 p.m. and the hours for the March 8 tour are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. More information at the Los Angeles Conservancy.

References:

Ellerbe Becket. From a dance hall in St. Paul, Minn., to a signature multiuse high-rise for a Saudi Arabian prince, the firm that Franklin Ellerbe founded in 1909 has traveled well. The 1988 acquisition of Welton Becket enhanced the firm’s legacy through its own landmark designs, such as Capitol Records in Los Angeles and the Nile Hilton in Cairo, Egypt.

Abbreviated List of Projects:

Adams Mark Hotel, Dallas, Texas, 1958, 1980, 1998. This complex of three skyscrapers was originally designed by Welton Becket & Associates from for the Southland Life Corporation. It was one of the first mixed use projects in downtown. It was also only the second major development in the northeast end of downtown, now the hub of CBD develpment. The original two buildings, completed in 1958, consisted of the 42 story Southland Life Building (Center Tower - 550 feet) and the 38 story Sheraton Dallas Hotel (South Tower - 352 feet). For five years the building was the tallest in the city. Photo at DallasArchitecture.

Reunion Tower, Dallas, Texas, 1978. One of Dallas' signature buildings, Reunion Tower is a 560 tall observation tower that was constructed as a part of the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The shaft of the tower is constructed from poured in place concrete and features four concrete cylinders. Reunion Tower and the Hyatt were designed by Welton Becket & Associates. Reunion Tower is the 15th tallest building in Dallas. Photo at DallasArchitecture.

Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California, 1958. This building was constructed in 1958 in response to the development of the Santa Monica Civic Center. It was the third of three major 20th century Civic Center structures, beginning with the Art Deco style City Hall, designed by Los Angeles architect Donald Parkinson and completed in 1938 and the Los Angeles County Courthouse, which was added in 1951. It remains an excellent example of the International Style (Modern), a style that dominated the architectural face of the globe from the first decade of the 20th century until 1972. It is the only surviving institutional design in the City of Santa Monica. The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium replaced a classically inspired facility that had been located at Lick Pier, known as the Ocean Park Municipal Auditorium. Link to Landmarks Commission Statement of Findings and Determination in the Matter of the Designation of a Landmark, November 2001.

University of California, Los Angeles. General Campus: Ackerman Union, 1961; Acosta Training Center Welton Becket & Associates 1965; Kerckhoff Hall, 1962; Morgan Athletic Center, 1965; Pauley Pavilion, 1965; Schoenberg Hall, 1955. Center for the Health Sciences: Brain Research Institute, 1961; Clinical Research, 1954; Dentistry, 1966; Doris Stein Eye Research Inst., 1989; Health Sciences 1954 (Includes School of Medicine 1955-1973 and Medical Center); Jules Stein Eye Institute, 1967; Marion Davies Children's Clinic, 1962; Neuropsychiatric Institute, 1961; Reed Neurological Research, 1970; Rehabilitation Center, 1965; School of Public Health, 1968; Stanford Street Medical, 1986; Vivarium, 1954. Residential On Campus: Dykstra Hall, 1959, 1966; Hedrick Hall, 1964; Rieber Hall, 1963; Sproul Hall, 1960. Parking Structures: 5--Sunset/Westwood, 1961; E--LeConte/Tiverton, 1967. [reference]

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