SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIANS

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER

JOIN

SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIANS

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER

JOIN

SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIANS

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER

JOIN

THE SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIANS

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER

JOIN

SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIANS

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER

JOIN

Category: Lecture Presentation

Harley Earl & The Architecture of Automotive Design: SAH/SCC Zoom Presentation

Longtime SAH/SCC Member and vintage car collector Richard Stanley will discuss the life and contributions of influential industrial designer—and Hollywood native—Harley Earl (1893-1969). Developing his flash on the West Coast, Earl then took it East to Detroit. He literally invented the modern design studio that made General Motors so dominant. At the time of his retirement […]

Preserving the California Capitol: SAH/SCC Panel Presentation

Join the SAH/SCC as we learn more about the history and recent preservation challenges associated California’s Capitol in Sacramento. We will be joined by Dick Cowan; Wayne Donaldson, FAIA and former State Historic Preservation Officer; and Paula Peper, Urban Forester. Recently, the California Legislature decided not to even consider rehabilitation when it proposed The Capitol […]

Modern Main Street: South Coast Plaza: SAH/SCC Zoom Presentation

Join docomomo.us/Southern California Chapter and the Society of Architectural Historians/Southern California Chapter for a look at the grandest mall of them all: South Coast Plaza. Throughout October, docomomo.us chapters will be exploring the modern legacy of mall design. This free Zoom program will feature three experts: Alan Hess, author and advocate from Preserve Orange County; […]

Julia Morgan – Outlier: SAH/SCC Zoom Presentation

Please join SAH/SCC for a look at the work of architect Julia Morgan by the author of the successful American Institute of Architects (AIA) Gold Medal application. Morgan received the Gold Medal posthumously in 2014. Kimberly Perette, a board member of the Julia Morgan Conservancy, will share what she learned while researching and writing about […]

Golden 1 – Bringing Nature into the City: SAH/SCC Zoom Presentation

Join us as we explore the Golden 1 Center (AECOM, 2017), the world’s most technologically advanced and sustainable arena, and the first LEED Platinum Arena in the world.  Golden 1 Center received the 2017 American Architecture Award for the best new building designed by American architects presented by the Chicago Athenaeum and an AIA Central […]

An Unlikely Modernism – Bakersfield Built: SAH/SCC Zoom Presentation

Join SAH/SCC Board Member David Coffey as he takes us to an unlikely place for a modernist mecca: Bakersfield, California. David Coffey is the owner of Richard Neutra’s Davis House, curator of the Frank Lloyd Wright Ablin House and founder of Bakersfield Built—a celebration of Bakersfield’s modernist architecture that takes place every five years. Built […]

Griffith Observatory: Hollywood’s Celestial Theater: SAH/SCC Zoom Presentation

Join SAH/SCC for another exciting Zoom presentation by favorite speaker and SAH/SCC Member Stuart W. (Bill) Leslie. This time, Leslie will talk about the architecture of a Los Angeles icon: Griffith Observatory (John C. Austin and Frederic M. Ashley, 1935; Levin and Associates Architects/Pfeiffer Partners, 2006). Leslie maintains that Griffith Observatory has never been apologetic […]

Richard L. Dorman: An Audacious Modernism: SAH/SCC Zoom Presentation

Join SAH/SCC and its President, Sian Winship, as she talks about the work and legacy of Richard L. Dorman, FAIA, an important midcentury modern architect. Dorman has largely been forgotten to history because he left no architectural archive. For more than a decade, Winship has been collecting photographs, plans, and drawings of his residential, commercial, […]

Epiphany Ahora! With Escher GuneWardena: SAH/SCC Zoom Presentation

Join SAH/SCC President Sian Winship for a discussion with members Frank Escher and Ravi GuneWardena of Escher GuneWardena Architecture about the restoration of the Church of the Epiphany, known both for being the oldest Episcopal Church in the City of Los Angeles (1887, Ernest Coxhead and 1905/1913 Arthur Benton) and the home of the Chicano […]

Svetlana Petrović

Working in support of SAH/SCC for more than twenty years, Svetlana is an art director and graphic designer living and working between Los Angeles, California and Belgrade, Serbia. She designs our quarterly newsletter and is also responsible for our beautiful new website which was created by her and her partner’s design and build agency, CATCH ME CREATIVE.

Agnie Agostino

Angie Agostino, the owner of AgostinoCreative, has been working in the multimedia industry providing graphic design, photography, social media and interactive projects for over 20 years. She has also teamed up with author Jeffrey Crider and the two of them have published several books focusing on the history of various cities in the southern California region — many, of which, have recently been added to the Library of Congress.

Julie D. Taylor, Hon. AIA

Julie is Founder/Principal of Taylor & Company, a company providing public relations and marketing services to professionals and organizations involved in architecture, design, and furnishings. A self-described “design evangelist,” she has written three books including Spa: The Sensuous Experience (2006); Bars, Pubs, and Cafes (2000); and Outdoor Rooms (1999), in addition to countless articles on design, architecture, marketing, and art. Julie has been editor of SAH/SCC News since 1998, and was the West Coast correspondent for ArchNewsNow.com. She is a frequent guest lecturer on marketing architectural services at conferences and universities. Julie is on the advisory board of USModernist, and was the co-founderof CANstruction LA. She was given honorary AIA/LA membership in December 2007 and received an Allied Professions Achievement Honor from AIA California Council in 2012. Julie was the 2014-2016 Public Director on the National AIA Board of Directors and was granted national honorary AIA status in 2018.

Lilian Pfaff

Lilian Pfaff, Ph.D. is an award-winning author, educator, curator, and real estate agent at MODERN CALIFORNIA HOUSE. She earned her Master in Art History from University of Hamburg, her Master of Advanced Studies in Architectural Theory from ETH Zuerich and her Ph.D. in Architecture History from the University of Zuerich. She is the author of J.R. Davidson (Birkhauser, 2019), Escher GuneWardena (Birkhauser, 2017), and numerous other books and articles. She is a member of the adjunct faculty at Cal Poly Pomona, Pasadena City College and Woodbury University—teaching architectural history and theory. She is a board member of the HPOZ Board Highland Park – Garvanza.

David Coffey

David Coffey is the owner of Richard Neutra’s Davis House (1937) in Bakersfield, CA, as well as the steward/caretaker of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ablin House (1959). He has curated and produced multiple historical architecture events in Bakersfield, including “Masters of Modernism: Neutra & Wright in Bakersfield” with SAH/SCC’s Sian Winship in October 2009, and “Bakersfield Built: 1930s” in conjunction with CSUB’s celebration of the 75th anniversary of the publication of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath.  Other programs with the Bakersfield Museum of Art, CSUB Library Special Collections Department, and the Kern County Museum to curate and produce “Bakersfield Built: 1960s” in September of 2019 and Bakersfield Built the 1950’s in September of 2024. He is working with the University of Uruguay in Montevideo on ongoing programs promoting the rich modernist building in Uruguay titled Montevideo Modernism.  He is a board member of the Bakersfield Museum of Art and is currently on its Exhibition Committee. David grew up in Cincinnati, OH, and graduated from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music with a BA in electronic media.

Jean Baaden

As a member of the SAH/SCC Board for the past twenty eight years, Sian Winship has created numerous educational programs celebrating modern residential architecture in Southern California and across the country. In 2011, Sian earned her Masters of Historic Preservation (MHP) from USC. Sian is the author of the award-winning Japanese American Context and Women’s Right’s Context for SurveyLA. She has also authored a number of successful National Register nominations including the Bakersfield Woman’s Club, A.Q. Jones Residence #3, the St. Vincent Seminary Historic District. She has researched and written historic context statements for Ventura, Bakersfield, Paramount, and was the principal author of the award-winning Long Beach Suburbanization and Race Context Statement. She is also on the board of the Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design. She is an adjunct professor in the Heritage Conservation Program at USC.

Brent Eckerman

Internet Editor

Brent Eckerman is an architect who has worked in Los Angeles for the past forty-one years. He received his architectural degree from Cal Poly Pomona. During his career, he spent many years as a Senior Associate at Frederick Fisher and Partners in Los Angeles. He currently works for the City of Los Angeles, at the Bureau of Engineering. He has an interest in Modern Architecture and particularly in Mid-Century Modernism. Brent also has a strong background in computer technology and acted as the driving force behind the SAH/SCC Website. 

Rina Rubenstien

Membership

Rina Rubenstein’s family came to Los Angeles a century ago. Her father, a landscaper who took her to his construction sites including UCLA, JPL, & Century City, instilled in her a strong connection with the built environment of Southern California. After high school, Rina moved to Israel to work on a kibbutz, milking cows and weeding cotton. While studying Biblical Archaeology & Classical Art History at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, she worked summers on excavations and winters in the Israel Museum. Since then, she has held mostly library and information management positions. Rina was Treasurer of a SAH/SCC for several years. She lives in a 1913 Craftsman home in West Adams, where she’s active in neighborhood affairs. 

John Berley

Treasurer

John Berley has been a Board Member since 1994 and was President of the SAH/SCC from 1996 to 1999. He is a former Senior Associate at Frederick Fisher and Partners, Architects and for 14 years served as a Landmarks Commissioner for the City of Santa Monica (2003-2017). John has been responsible for rehabilitation projects including the Annenberg Community Beach House (2009), Grand Central Air Terminal (Henry Gogerty, 1930), as well as the Sunnylands Center and Gardens in Rancho Mirage.  Over the years, John has created such memorable SAH/SCC programs as On Parallel Lines: The Sarasota School of Architecture and the Case Study House Program; Creative Space: Architects Offices, and Beyond the Bauhaus: The Legacy of Walter Gropius in Boston. He is also the leader of the ongoing Modern Patrons series, which offers thoughtful dialogue with homeowners who commissioned the modern masters. Additionally, He has written on the early influence of Irving Gill, A. Quincy Jones, and the Post-War development of Modern Architecture in America.

Jay Platt

Vice President

Jay Platt is the Principal Planner for Historic Preservation with the City of Glendale Community Development Department. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Heritage Conservation program at USC.  Over the last thirty years, Jay has served in various roles in the public, private, non-profit, and education sectors in New York City, Philadelphia, and his hometown, Los Angeles.  And, most days, he’s still into it!  He received his undergraduate degree from UCLA and an M.S. in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania.  He and his wife Kathleen enjoy life in Eagle Rock with a couple of amusing beagles.

Sian Winship

President

As a member of the SAH/SCC Board for the past twenty eight years, Sian Winship has created numerous educational programs celebrating modern residential architecture in Southern California and across the country. In 2011, Sian earned her Masters of Historic Preservation (MHP) from USC. Sian is the author of the award-winning Japanese American Context and Women’s Right’s Context for SurveyLA. She has also authored a number of successful National Register nominations including the Bakersfield Woman’s Club, A.Q. Jones Residence #3, the St. Vincent Seminary Historic District. She has researched and written historic context statements for Ventura, Bakersfield, Paramount, and was the principal author of the award-winning Long Beach Suburbanization and Race Context Statement. She is also on the board of the Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design. She is an adjunct professor in the Heritage Conservation Program at USC.