Humanities › Visual Arts Architecture in California, A Guide for the Casual Traveler Share Flipboard Email Print Photo by George Rose/Hulton Archive Collection/Getty Images Visual Arts Architecture Great Buildings An Introduction to Architecture Styles Theory History Famous Architects Famous Houses Skyscrapers Tips For Homeowners Art & Artists By Jackie Craven Jackie Craven Facebook Twitter Art and Architecture Expert Doctor of Arts, University of Albany, SUNY M.S., Literacy Education, University of Albany, SUNY B.A., English, Virginia Commonwealth University Dr. Jackie Craven has over 20 years of experience writing about architecture and the arts. She is the author of two books on home decor and sustainable design. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on July 03, 2019 California and the long Pacific coast of the Western United States is a territory of changing landscapes and wild diversity—in both lifestyles and architectural styles. California is a land of "fire and rain" and of tsunamis and drought. Although from north to south its climate changes dramatically, California has a constant element that affects all building codes—the San Andreas Fault. In the links and resources on this page, you will find simple adobe homes of early Spanish colonists, glitzy homes of Hollywood movie stars, groundbreaking modernist architecture, playful amusement park buildings, wacky googie structures, historic bridges and stadia, and many other interesting and unusual building types. Visiting the San Francisco Area Marin County Civic Center by Frank Lloyd Wright San Francisco Museum of Modern Art by Mario Botta United States Federal Building by Thom Mayne California Academy of Sciences by Renzo Piano The Golden Gate Bridge Along the Coast of California Historic Monterey Houses in Monterey Bixby Bridge in Big Sur Sea Ranch Chapel in Gualala, by James Hubbell Hearst Castle in San Simeon, designed by Julia Morgan High Style Spanish Revival Architecture in Santa Barbara Visiting the Los Angeles Area Los Angeles is an architectural kaleidoscope. As you explore the warm, southern California city, you'll find odd contrasts. No matter. The sun of Southern California has attracted odd bedfellows, both in the movie industry and architectural practices. Here is just a taste of LA architecture: Disney Concert Hall by Frank Gehry Emerson College Los Angeles by Thom Mayne Binoculars Building in Venice by Frank Gehry Diamond Ranch High School in Pomona by Thom Mayne LA Museum of Contemporary Art by Arata Isozaki Case Study House #8 by Charles and Ray Eames The Getty Center by Richard Meier Ennis Brown House by Frank Lloyd Wright Hollyhock House by Frank Lloyd Wright The Schindler Chace House by Rudolf Schindler George D. Sturges House by Frank Lloyd Wright Theme Building at LAX Central Public Library by Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue Caltrans District 7 Headquarters by Thom Mayne Visiting the Palm Springs Area Within two hours of Hollywood, Palm Springs became the famous getaway for the movie elite. Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, and other movie stars built homes here in the 1940s and 1950s, the height of Mid-Century Modernism. Richard Neutra, Albert Frey, and others invented what became known as Desert Modernism. Midcentury Modern Architecture in Palm Springs Alexander Homes: Houses by the Alexander Construction Company The Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway The Annenberg Residence, Sunnylands by A. Quincy Jones in Rancho Mirage Visiting the San Diego Area Balboa Park, site of the influential Panama-California Exposition of 1915. San Diego architect Irving Gill carried out the Mission Revival and Pueblo styles decided on by the organizers, but it was New Yorker Bertram G. Goodhue who gave the buildings the Spanish Baroque detailing known as Churrigueresque. Exposition buildings such as Casa de Balboa and Casa del Prado ignited a Spanish Renaissance throughout the American Southwest. Well-Known Sports Venues in California Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Architects of California Many of today's larger architectural firms have multiple offices, which often include California. For example, Richard Meier & Partners Architects LLP has an office in Los Angeles. The following list of architects, however, are often associated with beginning their careers in California. They made their mark and settled in California. Julia Morgan Paul Williams Richard Neutra Donald Wexler Frank Gehry Charles and Ray Eames Rudolph Schindler Wallace Neff A. Quincy Jones Thom Mayne Bernard Maybeck Irving Gill Charles and Henry Greene Craig Ellwood Joseph Esherick Learn More with these Books Wallace Neff, Architect of California's Golden Age by Alson Clark, 2000Toward a Simpler Way of Life: The Arts and Crafts Architects of California by Robert Winter, University of California Press, 1997Irving J. Gill: Architect, 1870 - 1936 by Marvin Rand, 2006Five California Architects by Esther McCoy and Randell Makinson, 1975On the Edge of the World: Four Architects in San Francisco at the Turn of the Century by Richard Longstreth, University of California Press, 1998California Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright by David Gebhard, 1997California Modern: The Architecture of Craig Ellwood by Neil Jackson, Princeton Architectural Press, 2002Spanish Colonial Style: Santa Barbara and the Architecture of James Osborne Craig and Mary McLaughlin Craig by Pamela Skewes-Cox and Robert Sweeney, 2015 Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Craven, Jackie. "Architecture in California, A Guide for the Casual Traveler." ThoughtCo, Jul. 29, 2021, thoughtco.com/architecture-in-california-178486. Craven, Jackie. (2021, July 29). Architecture in California, A Guide for the Casual Traveler. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/architecture-in-california-178486 Craven, Jackie. 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