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Source: latimes.com 

Born in 1895, Wallace Neff was a California architect who many attribute to developing the quintessential Southern California architectural style the state is known for. Neff studied architecture under Ralph Adams Cram in Massachusetts before returning to his birthplace of California to to work as a shipyard draftsman. 

After spending several years working as a draftsman, Neff began his career as an architect, designing structures that were heavily influenced by Spanish and Mediterranean architectural styles. One of Neff's earliest designs was his own church, the St. Elizabeth of Hungary Roman Catholic Church, built in 1926 in Altadena. 

The church featured a Spanish Medieval design, complete with a bell tower modeled after a

Source: mcmdaily.com

Born in Pasadena in 1911, Whitney R. Smith was a pioneer in postwar modernist architecture. He earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Southern California in 1934 but because it was difficult to find architectural work during the Depression, Smith took a position as a movie set designer shortly after graduation. 

After a few years of movie set design, Smith finally began working with several different architects, including Harwell Hamilton Harris, a modernist whom Smith said had a heavy influence on his work. In 1941, Smith opened his own architectural firm before meeting his soon-to-be partner, architect Wayne R. Williams, in 1946. The two formed an official working partnership shortly thereafter,

Source: digs.net

When it comes to architects to the stars, few are more iconic than John Woolf. Born in 1910 in Atlanta, Georgia, Woolf studied architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology before moving to Hollywood in 1936. Initially, Woolf hoped his Southern accent would secure him a role in Gone With the Wind, but when he met the film’s director, George Cukor, his career took a very different turn. 

While Woolf didn’t land a part in the film, he and Cukor formed a strong friendship that would pave the way for Woolf’s architecture career. Through Cukor, Woolf met many influential Hollywood figures who took interest in the architect’s drawings, including art dealer and interior decorator James Pendleton and his wife, Mary Frances. The two

Source: archpaper.com

Barbara Bestor is a ground-breaking architect known for experimental designs and masterful renovations. Bestor knew in the eighth grade that she wanted to be an architect, eventually joining the likes of Rem Koolhaas and Zaha Hadid by studying abroad at the Architectural Association in London for a year before earning her degree from Harvard in 1987. Bestor went on to earn a master’s in architecture from the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles in 1992. 

The architect began practicing shortly after graduating with her master’s degree. She earned early acclaim for her inventive and meticulous renovations of Los Angeles residences, which led to her becoming a go-to preservationist, renovating homes by

Source: laconservancy.org

Born in 1922, Richard Dorman was raised in Los Angeles and helped shape the architectural landscape of the city. Before he was an architect, Dorman fought in World War II as a pilot, flying 35 missions over the Pacific. After the war, Dorman used funds from the GI Bill to attend architecture school at the University of Southern California. 

Upon graduating from USC, Dorman was invited to work for Welton Becket and Associates where he was the assistant chief designer for five years before leaving to start his own architectural firm in 1956. Initially, the architect primarily designed industrial buildings, but he ultimately moved on to the commercial and residential designs for which he became most popular. 

Dorman was

Source: latimes.com

William Krisel is among the pioneering architects who helped define and drive affordable, modernist tract housing in Southern California. Born in Shanghai in 1924 to American parents who were working abroad for the U.S. State Department, Krisel drafted his first house at just 11 years old. Krisel’s father sent the drawing to an architect who said that Krisel had the talent to become an architect himself, which is exactly what he did. 

Krisel remained in China until he was 13 before moving back to the United States. When he was 18, Krisel was assigned as a Chinese interpreter during World War II. While in the Army, he spoke with other soldiers about their plans for after the war, which ultimately informed his architectural

Source: inexhibit.com

In addition to October 31st being a day of costumes, trick or treating, and parties, it’s also the day that architect Zaha Hadid was born. Zaha Hadid was an Iraqi architect and the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize, receiving the award in 2004. She also received the Stirling Prize, the UK’s most esteemed architectural award, in 2010 and 2011, and was the first woman to win the RIBA Gold Medal. 

Hadid was born in Baghdad in 1950 to her father, a wealthy, liberal industrialist, and her mother, an artist. The upper-class family took many trips to ancient Sumerian cities during Hadid’s childhood, which she has said sparked her interest in architecture. After attending boarding school in England and Switzerland,

Source: daledoesthedesert.com; portrait by Julius Schulman

Albert Frey was an American architect from Switzerland who created his own style of modernist architecture in Palm Springs, called “desert modernism.” Frey attended architecture school in Zurich in 1924, where he received technical building instruction while studying the De Stijl, Bauhaus, and modernism movements, all of which heavily influenced his design style. 

In 1928, Frey became one of two full-time employees in the Paris atelier, working under the supervision and guidance of architects Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret. Frey left Paris the same year for the United States but retained a strong friendship with Le Corbusier throughout his life. 

Being that Frey was the first U.S.

This year, Etsy launched its first-ever design awards, aptly named The Etsies, which honor the best of the best makers and designers on the site. Awards were issued in five categories: Earth-Friendly, Inventive Decor, Festive Celebrations, Signature Style, and Creative Collaborations. Etsy asked the public to nominate their favorite products in each category, then a panel of experts judged the entries on the shortlist to determine the winners of each category. They also chose a special Grand Prize Winner, who took home a $15,000 prize. 

We highlighted the winners so you can see for yourself how innovative, beautiful, and useful these designs are, and potentially add one (or all) to your Etsy shopping cart. 

Grand Prize Winner: Sien Zeng,

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Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier, was a prolific Swiss-French designer, architect, writer, and artist in addition to being among the pioneers of modern architecture. Born in 1887, Le Corbusier grew up with an interest in the arts, which was heavily influenced by his father, a watch craftsman, and his mother, a musician. 

When he was 13, Le Corbusier attended Arts Decoratifs at La Chaux-de-Fonds where he followed his father’s footsteps, studying the art of engraving and enameling watches. During his time there, Le Corbusier learned from Charles L’Eplatteneir, a Swiss painter and architect who taught him about art history, drawing, architecture, and art nouveau. 

L'Eplatteneir encouraged Le Corbusier