In 1923, Paul Revere Williams (1894–1980) became the first African-American architect to join the American Institute of Architecture. Nearly a century later in 2017, the organization posthumously awarded him its most prestigious honor, the AIA Gold Medal. In doing so, the country’s standard bearer for the field belatedly acknowledged Williams’s significant contributions to Los Angeles, both as a prolific and versatile designer and as a trailblazing community leader. Several factors account for this delay, starting with widespread discrimination in a profession that still struggles with racial and gender diversity. In addition, Williams was a master of many styles (including revivals), and not uniformly committed to the modernist aesthetic favored by prominent critics.
Over the last several years, photographer Janna Ireland has endeavored to preserve a record of Williams’s achievements and affirm his rightful position in history. She was drawn to the project as a way to further her visual exploration of Black life. Her lyrical black and white images often emphasize the elegant details that define Williams’s architecture, from the sinuous curving walls and staircases to the intricate trims. In her own words, this allows Ireland to "focus on form and design" and convey the "meticulous yet really warm and human" aspects of his work.
Though best known for his glamorous mansions for the Los Angeles elite,Williams also designed beautiful homes for more modest budgets as well as public buildings. A group of three photographs depict the Founder’s Church of Religious Science (1960) in what is now Koreatown. Named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2020, the elliptical domed structure was one of Williams’s more ambitious projects. Ireland’s photographs capture the building’s graceful curves as well as the distinctive pierced concrete screen that envelopes the church, creating a secluded sanctuary from the busy street.
Staci Steinberger, Associate Curator, Decorative Arts and Design, 2021
