Paul R. Williams (1894-1980) was a Black American architect whose creativity and determination triumphed over deep-rooted racial prejudice. In a career that spanned six decades, he was astonishingly prolific, a master of historic styles and bold visions of the future. He was the first registered Black architect west of the Mississippi, and he used his position to advance civil rights.
Paul Williams and assistant in his LA office
Who was Paul R. Williams?
Paul Revere Williams was born in Los Angeles in 1894. He lost his parents to illness at the age of four and was later adopted into a new family. He went on to study at the Los Angeles School of Art and Design and at the Los Angeles branch of the New York Beaux-Arts Institute of Design Atelier. He worked for a spell as a landscape architect and also practised at other architectural offices following graduation. At the young age of 25, Williams independently won an architectural competition, which helped him, three years later, to set up his own firm.
Frank Sinatra, Norma Harvey and Paul R, Williams reviewing plans, 1956
He went on to become an 'architect to the stars,' as he was often referred to, designing homes for his era's Hollywood elite. His architectural work was also recognised within his profession, becoming the first Black member of the American Institute of Architects in 1923, and later winning the AIA Award of Merit for his design of the MCA Building in Beverly Hills in 1939.
He died at the age of 85 in 1980, and among his numerous accolades is an American Institute of Architects (AIA) Gold Medal, received posthumously in 2017.
Three shows on his work
Three major LA museums are celebrating the legacy of Paul R. Williams in the coming months, creating a bit of a moment to look back at the architect's legacy.
Residence for Dr. and Mrs. Taylor (perspective rendering), 1953, by Paul R. Williams, (American, 1894–1980), graphite on paper.
Why now? Recently, the Getty Research Institute and the University of Southern California School of Architecture have jointly acquired his archive, and each of the three exhibitions focuses on a different aspect of this trove of plans, sketches and photographs representing 1500 projects.
Magi-Cab project, Las Vegas, ca 1967 (unrealized)
Paul R. Williams at the The Fisher Museum of Art
The Fisher Museum of Art on the USC campus leads off with 'An Architect Considered' (August 18- March 3, 2027), which focuses on 31 multi-unit housing projects, many of them for disadvantaged communities. Williams was long known as an architect working with celebrity royalty, counting Cary Grant, Barbara Stanwyck, Frank Sinatra, and Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson among his clients. This survey explores a less familiar aspect of his work, and several artists have been invited to contribute a contemporary comment on the exhibits.
Paul R. Williams at the LA County Museum of Art
'Architect for Living' at the LA County Museum of Art runs from November 15 through May 31, 2027, and takes a much broader view. Houses and hotels, restaurants and schools, churches and casinos demonstrate Williams’ versatility and the impact he made on the urban scene in LA and beyond. Many of his buildings survive intact, notably the house he built for his family in the leafy mid-city neighbourhood of Lafayette Square.
Nuevo Varadero Resort, Cuba, 1955 (unrealized)
It puts a fresh spin on modernist architecture, complementing its traditional neighbours without courting objections: a strategy of accommodation that carried Williams to success in everything he undertook. The house was recently restored by Escher GuneWardena Architecture for a new owner. As the pre-eminent LA restoration firm (whose portfolio includes the Eames House and Richard Neutra’s Lovell Health House), they did meticulous research and revealed a long-concealed palette of subtle colours within.
Paul R. Williams at the Getty Research Institute
The third show, 'Architecture Across the Color Line,' will be presented by the Getty Research Institute, December 15-March 14, 2027. As the title suggests, it emphasises Williams’ commitment to the Black community and the way it was excluded from many neighbourhoods and marginalised by its lack of access to loans. The architect became a director of a bank that helped finance several important projects, notably Case Study House 21 for Dr Bailey in the progressive 1950s development of Crestwood Hills.
Paul R. Williams House
Maristella Casciato, the Getty’s architecture curator, describes Williams as 'elegant, affable, charming and very successful; he appeared able to transcend de facto and de jure forms of racialised segregation and the constraints of white supremacy that were nationally pervasive.'
Paul R. Williams beyond the exhibits
In December, the Getty will publish 'I am an Architect: Paul R. Williams and his Archive', which offers a generous sampling of images and essays, though some of these lapse into academic jargon. We can hope that the Getty, which houses the archives of many other LA architects, will do more than it has to showcase them and raise public awareness of the region’s unique legacy of modernism.
5 works by Paul R. Williams
Paul R. Williams house (1952)
Paul R. Williams house
Williams designed a house for his family and himself in the neighbourhood of Lafayette Square in Los Angeles in 1952. The project adheres to modernist architecture principles, defined by light colours and clean lines. It is surrounded by a green garden; it was conceived as an urban sanctuary.
El Mirador Hotel (1962)
El Mirador Hotel pool, Palm Springs, 1962
Set in the desert city of Palm Springs in California, El Mirador hotel was a remodel of an existing structure created on site a couple of decades earlier. Williams led a major modernisation at the property, which included modernist elements such as a shaded porte cochère entry, modern cabanas and a refreshed sun and swimming pool deck.
First African Methodist Episcopal Church of LA (1969)
First African Methodist Episcopal Church of LA, 1969
A landmark project in Williams' career, the First African Methodist Episcopal Church of LA serves the oldest African American congregation in Los Angeles. The structure was designed in Late Modern style and opened its doors in 1969.
Pueblo del Rio Housing Project (1942)
Pueblo del Rio Housing Project (detail), ca. 1947, by photographer Leonard Nadel (American, 1916–1990), silver gelatin negative.
Operating as part of a collaborative group titled Southeast Housing Architects, Williams worked on Pueblo del Rio, one of Los Angeles's most well-known historic public housing developments. The scheme was designed between 1940 and 1942 and was part of Williams' work for the city’s first Housing Commission, where he was appointed in 1933 (shortly after, he also served on the National Board of Municipal Housing).
Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company (1949)
Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, ca. 1950, by photographer Harry Drinkwater, (American, 1919–2014), silver gelatin negative.
The home of the largest Black-owned insurance company west of the Mississippi, Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, was designed by Williams in a Late Modern style of clear shapes and minimal decorative detail. Set in 1999 West Adams Boulevard, the building included a large auditorium, a civic plaza and lobby murals featuring moments of African-American history.