Welton Becket
Welton David Becket 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.He moved to Los Angeles in 1933 and formed a partnership with his University of Washington classmate Walter Wurdeman and Angelean 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 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 menus, silverware, matchbooks, and napkins.
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.
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.
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 MacDonald G. Becket and granddaughter Alexandra Becket.
Commissions
Becket's extensive list of credits includes:- Pan-Pacific Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA, 1935
- Jones Dog & Cat Hospital, West Hollywood, California, 1938
- Manila Jai Alai Building, Manila, Philippines, 1939
- General Petroleum Building, Los Angeles, CA, 1949
- First National Bank of Arizona Building, Phoenix, AZ, 1950
- Welton Becket Residence, Los Angeles, CA, 1952
- Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, CA,1953
- Los Altos Center Mall, along Beach, CA 1953
- Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA,1953
- Baptist Memorial Hospital, Kansas City, MO, 1953
- Parker Center, Los Angeles, CA, 1955
- The Broadway department store at Panorama City Shopping Center, Panorama City, Los Angeles, CA, 1955
- The Broadway Orange County, now in Anaheim Plaza, Anaheim, CA, 1955
- Capitol Records Building, Los Angeles, CA, Project Designer Lou Naidorf, 1956
- Park Central Mall, Phoenix, AZ, 1956
- Texaco Building on Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 1957
- Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, CA, 1958
- Hotel Tryp Habana Libre, Havana, Cuba, 1958
- The Nile Ritz-Carlton, Cairo, Cairo, Egypt, 1959
- Sheraton Dallas Hotel, Dallas, TX, 1959
- Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA, 1959
- Riviera Hotel and Casino expansion, Las Vegas, NV, 1959
- Los Angeles Customs House and Federal Office Building, Los Angeles, CA, 1960
- 100 California Street, San Francisco, CA, 1960
- Kaiser Center, Oakland, CA, 1960
- Clark County Courthouse, Las Vegas, NV, 1961
- Grosmont Center, La Mesa, CA, 1961
- Christown Mall, Phoenix, AZ, 1961
- Robert McCulloch Residence, Palm Springs, CA, 1962
- Petersen Automotive Museum, Los Angeles, CA, 1962
- Walt Whitman Shops, Huntington Station, NY, 1962
- Southern Cross Hotel, Melbourne, Australia, 1962
- Interiors of the new Los Angeles International Airport, 1962
- Boeing Building El Segundo, CA, 1962
- Security First National Bank, El Segundo, CA, 1963
- U.S. Embassy, Warsaw, Poland, 1963
- Cinerama Dome, Los Angeles, CA, 1963
- Century City, Los Angeles, CA, 1963
- Gateway West Building, Century City, Los Angeles, CA, 1963
- Biltmore Fashion Park, Phoenix, AZ, 1963
- Hartford National Bank, Hartford, CT 1963
- ExxonMobil Building Houston, TX, 1963
- McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, NV, 1963
- Orange Civic Center, Orange, CA, 1963
- Westfield Century City Century City, Los Angeles, CA, 1964
- Phillips Petroleum Building, Bartlesville, OK, 1964
- Federal Building, Los Angeles, CA, 1964
- North American Avaition Building, Los Angeles, 1964
- Los Angeles Music Center, which includes Dorthy Chandler Pavilion, Mark Taper Fourm and Ahmanson Theater, Los Angeles, CA, 1964
- Ford Pavilion, New York City, NY, 1964
- General Electric Pavilion, New York City, NY, 1964
- Mutual Savings and Loan Building, Pasadena, CA, 1964
- Pauley Pavilion at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 1965
- Santa Monica Shores Apartments, Santa Monica CA, 1967
- Gulf Life Tower, Jacksonville, FL, 1967
- Xerox Tower, Rochester, New York, 1967
- Fashion Island, Newport Beach, CA, 1967
- City Hall, Pomona, CA, Project Designer Marvin Taff, 1969
- Equitable Life Building, Los Angeles, 1969
- McKession Plaza, San Francisco, CA, 1969
- One California, San Francisco, CA, 1969
- Park Plaza Shopping Center, Oshkosh, WI, 1969
- 800 Wilshire, Los Angeles, CA, 1970
- Park Plaza Mall, Oshkosh, WI, 1970, now City Center a commercial business center for Oshkosh.
- PNC Plaza, Louisville, KY, 1971
- Beverly Wilshire Hotel expansion, Beverly Hills, CA, 1971
- Disney's Contemporary Resort, Lake Buena Vista, FL, 1971
- Worcester Center, Worcester, MA, 1971
- Chase Tower, Phoenix, AZ, Project Designer MacDonald Becket, 1972
- Grand Ole Opry House, Nashville, TN, 1972
- Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York, 1972
- One Market Plaza, San Francisco, CA, 1972
- Union Bank Building, San Francisco, CA, 1972
- One PNC Plaza, Pittsburgh, PA, 1972
- Regions Center, Birmingham, AL, 1972
- Brady Sullivan Plaza, , Manchester, N.H., 1973
- Glendale Central Library, Glendale, CA, Project Designer, Marvin Taff, 1973
- 100 Summer Street, Boston, MA, 1974
- Intourist Hotel, Moscow, Russia, 1976
- Reunion Tower, Dallas, TX, 1978
- Hyatt Regency Hotel, Dallas, TX, 1978
- Hyatt Regency Hotel, Washington, D. C. 1978
- Hyatt Regency Hotel, Louisville, KY, 1978
- One Tampa City Center Tampa, FL, 1981