California Modern, Irvine Style: Campus Architecture, City Planning and the Legacy of William Pereira

as-056_p010262 Apr 18, 2016

William Pereira (1909-1985) designed the original campus of UC Irvine as well as many iconic buildings of Southern California including the Los Angeles County Art Museum, the Los Angeles Zoo, the Geisel Library at UCSD, and the Theme Building at LAX. Pereira was deeply influenced by science fiction and worked on several motion pictures as an art director. This conference examines the history of UCI’s master plan and the city of Irvine in relation to the history of American modernism and higher education and early 1960s Utopianism: we hope to define the Pereira’s legacy and influence on trends in campus architecture and urbanism.

Organized by Catherine Liu and Julia Lupton wtih Ed Dimendberg and Peter Krapp.

California Modern, Irvine Style: Campus Architecture, City Planning and the Legacy of William Pereira

When: 10 a.m. April 18

Where: Pacific Ballroom A & B, UCI Student Center

Learn more: http://sites.uci.edu/pereira/

Conference Schedule 

10:00 am
1. Pereira and UCI: The View from the City: A Round-Table

Moderated by Catherine Liu, Professor of Film and Media Studies

  • Alan Hess, California architect, architectural critic and author
  • Kevin Staniec Director of the Great Park Gallery, which will have produced the exhibit “Yesterday’s Future: William Pereira” (June-October 2016) and “Bold and Independent: UC Irvine’s 50th Anniversary Exhibition.”
  • Grace Kook-Anderson, curator of “Yesterday’s Future: William Pereira”
  • Jesse Colin Jackson, UCI

11:30 LUNCH: 1-Minute student film festival awards and viewing
Peter Krapp, Professor of Film and Media Studies, presiding
Film festival co-sponsored by Illuminations.

1:00 pm | Pereira and UCI: Architectural Perspectives
Moderated by Ed Dimendberg, Professor of Film and Media Studies

  • Nicholas Olsberg, “Pereira and UCI: The View from California”
  • Jean-Louis Cohen, “Pereira and UCI: The Global Perspective”

Two 35-minute lectures followed by Q&A.

3:00| Coffee break

3:30 | Keynote Address: Elizabeth Diller, architect and MacArthur Fellow
Introduced by Georges Van Den Abbeele, dean of UCI’s School of Humanities

5:00 pm | Roundtable and reception with cocktails/light food
Roundtable: Irvine Histories and Futures

Moderated by David Feldman, Professor and Chair of Planning, Policy & Design

  • Founding and foundational faculty members (Robert Cohen, William Lillyman, James McGaugh, William Parker, Vicki Ruiz) and community members (Susan Pereira Wilsey and Beth Krom) will offer brief reflections on favorite campus buildings and what they mean to them. Also in attendance: three grandchildren of William Pereira.