Welton Becket

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

Biography

Becket was born in Seattle and graduated from the University of Washington program in Architecture in 1927 with a B.Arch. degree.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

He moved to Los Angeles in 1933 and formed a partnership with his University of Washington classmate Walter Wurdeman and Los Angeles 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.

Wurdeman and Becket, their company, designed 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The 3,000-seat Santa Monica Civic Auditorium; the project designer was Lou Naidorf and it 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Becket's buildings used unusual facade materials including 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 in Orlando, Florida. The Contemporary Resort was designed as a 14-story steel A-frame with a monorail running through the building. Modular guest rooms were assembled, finished, furnished, and fully equipped with their doors locked on the ground, then lifted by crane and inserted into the frame; however, it sometimes took multiple tries.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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<ref>AIA Journal 57-58 (1972), p. 58</ref> MacDonald G. Becket and his granddaughter Alexandra Becket.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Commissions

Template:Multiple image Template:Expand list Becket's works include:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Los Angeles

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Greater Los Angeles

Elsewhere in California

Elsewhere in the US

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International

References

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Becket's Cinerama Dome, with Shrek 2 decorations

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