Edward H. Fickett, FAIA, records, 1945-2013

Summary

Creators:

Edward H Fickett, FAIA (Firm)., Cleveland, Robert C., Frost, Larry, De Gennaro, George, and Shulman, Julius

Abstract:

The Edward H. Fickett, FAIA, records primarily contain the archives of the architectural office of noted Los Angeles architect Edward H. Fickett, FAIA. In addition, the collection contains a small set group of Fickett's personal papers.

Extent:

337 Linear Feet 364 boxes; 58 flat file drawers; flat folders; four 3-D models of Fickett projects

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

[Box/folder# or item name], Edward H. Fickett, FAIA, records, Collection no. 5014, University Archives, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California

Background

Scope and content:

This collection documents the professional work of the Edward H. Fickett, FAIA, architectural firm from the mid-1940's until Fickett's death in 1999. A majority of the collection consists of project records, including architectural drawings, architectural renderings, photographs, and project files, covering a range of architectural jobs, both large and small, undertaken by Fickett during his illustrative career. In addition, the collection contains professional files showcasing his participation in various professional organizations, such as the American Institute of Architects and the National Home Builders Association; articles about his work and influence on architectural design; and awards he received recognizing his achievements.

Overall, the collection includes architectural drawings, architectural renderings, correspondence, articles, ephemera, mementos, clippings, photographs and negatives, slides, plaques and certificates, samples, and 3-D models.

Biographical / historical:

Edward H. Fickett (1916-1999) was a Southern California native whose body of architectural work personified California architecture in the 1950s and 1960s. Fickett, born in Los Angeles, graduated from Beverly Hills High School (1934), and attended the University of Southern California University College (1934-1938) and the Art Center School of Los Angeles (1937-1942). He worked as a draftsman for two different architects and a structural engineer (1935-1942). In 1942, he joined the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps, rising to the rank of Lieutenant before his discharge in 1945. Following his tour of duty, Fickett joined Francis J. Heusel as a partner in an architectural firm, and finally in 1949 he embarked on a career of private practice with his own firm Edward H. Fickett Architect. He was elected a corporate member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1950 and was elected a Fellow by the AIA in 1969.

At the end of World War II, Fickett saw the need for affordable housing for the vast number of men coming home from the war and their families and for increasing the number of architects to design those homes. To help with encouraging college students to become architects, Fickett devised a lecture series with the support of the AIA and the cooperation of leading architects and toured campuses around the country to recruit students to the profession. Also, he himself began to plan and design affordable housing for these veterans and built a successful career meeting the housing needs of the general public.

Fickett, who brought modernist design to large-scale affordable housing in the post-war era, is credited with several advancements in the architectural profession. In addition to his new designs, he developed close working relationships with developers to build homes at a lower cost with new techniques of construction, yet these homes were still contemporary in design and appealed to new home buyers. These new homes had "a free plan, light and space that made Fickett-designed homes unique without being perceived as overly avant-garde on the outside," wrote Sian Winship in her 2011 thesis "Quantity and Quality: Architects Working for Developers in Southern California, 1960-1973." In his successful 1969 nomination for AIA fellowship, Fickett was recognized for his "excellence of design, proportion and scale and the use of regional materials" and his role in developing "modular and structural concepts for early (1947) low cost housing development...[s]ince used extensively on private and federal work."

During his career in private practice, Fickett earned a reputation as a leader in developing the "California Ranch Style" of architecture, or "California Moderne," as noted by Richard Rapaport in his 2014 book California Moderne and the Mid-Century Dream: The Architecture of Edward H. Fickett, with floor-to-ceiling windows and the integration of indoor and outdoor space. Over the course of his career Fickett planned and designed residential communities, both tract housing and planned communities; luxurious private homes; commercial buildings; government and military facilities; parks; resorts and country clubs; restaurants and a baseball stadium club; apartment buildings and condominiums; and hotels. He was also involved in preservation architecture. Examples of his work can be found in both Southern and Northern California, in Nevada and Washington, in New York and Indiana, and in Mexico. His impact on residential home construction alone is estimated at 60,000 homes, with approximately 10,000 located in the San Fernando Valley. In his 1963 nomination for election as an AIA Fellow, Fickett was recognized for the "planning and design of over seventy residential communities containing 40,000 single family dwellings."

Specific examples of Fickett's work and his role in shaping the "built environment of the American suburbs" are found in the tract developments and planned communities Sherman Park, Sherman Way Homes, Coronet Construction development, Granada Estates, Emerson Place Community, University Park and Moorpark College Campus, and the Pacific Island Village. His noted apartment houses include Sunset Capri Apartments, Los Feliz Riviera Apartments, Cavalier Apartments, Sunset Patio Apartments, Fountain Lanai Apartments, and the Hollywood Riviera Apartments. In the area of government facilities, Fickett planned and designed housing for Edwards Air Force Base, Norton Air Force Base, and Los Alamitos Naval Station. His work on local government buildings included the Los Angeles City Hall, Los Angeles Fire Stations No. 99 and No. 30, the Port of Los Angeles, and the West Hollywood Library. His contributions to public parks included the Silverlake Recreation Center and Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks Park. He designed and planned the La Jolla Fashion Center and the Dodger Stadium Club and Bistro Gardens restaurant. The La Costra Resort and Country Club and Quail Ranch Resort and Country Club show the Fickett style as well. Lastly, he designed private residences for celebrities Dick Clark, Steve Lawrence, and Groucho Marx, and for Georgia Frontiere, Marilynn Mack, Raymond Kay, Dr. and Mrs. George Jacobson, among others, as well as his own homes.

Fickett also participated in a number of professional activities. He wrote articles in several publications; he appeared on panels and juries and gave presentations at professional meetings; he gave lectures to various groups and appeared before government entities promoting zoning and planning codes; he was very active in the AIA, both locally and nationally; he served on the Federal Housing Advisory Board for the Federal Housing Administration, the United States Savings and Loan League Advisory Board, and the American Arbitration Association National Board of Arbitrators.

Lastly, Fickett received a number of awards, certificates and other acknowledgements recognizing his achievements and contributions to the profession and the community. These awards came from among others the American Institute of Architects, the National Association of Home Builders, Progressive Architecture, House and Home Magazine, Parents' Magazine, Better Homes and Gardens, Pacific Coast Builders, Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce, and the City of Los Angeles.

Fickett passed away in 1999.

Acquisition information:

Mrs. Joycie Fickett donated the collection in March 2010.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized and described, first, at the series level, based on the Standard Series approach for architectural records developed by Waverly Lowell and Kelcy Shepherd of the University of California, Berkeley, Environmental Design Archives. Then the collection is further divided into sub-series and file levels as needed to make the contents of the collection more easily identifiable and thus more accessible to researchers.

The collection is organized into the following five series: 1. Personal Papers; 2. Professional Papers; 3. Office Records; 4. Project Records; 5. Research Files

Accruals:

Additional materials donated by Mrs. Joycie Fickett after the original gift are incorporated into the collection.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Related resources

Related material:

See:

A. Quincy Jones papers, 1942-1979, Collection No. 1692, UCLA Library Department of Special Collections, University of California, Los Angeles

Julius Shulman photography archive, 1935-2009, Collection No. 2004.R.10, Special Collections, The Getty Research Institute

Maynard L. Parker negatives, photographs, and other material, 1930-1974 (bulk 1940s-1960s), The Huntington Library

Pierre Koenig Papers and Drawings, 1925-2007, Collection No. 2006.M.30, Special Collections, The Getty Research Institute

Thomas D. Church Collection, 1933-1977, Collection No. 1997-1, Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

Edward A. Killingsworth papers, Collection 0000148, Architecture and Design Collection, Art, Design & Architecture Museum, UC Santa Barbara

See:

Richard Rapaport, California Moderne and the Mid-Century Dream (New York: Rizzoli, 2014)

Winship, Sian, Quality and Equality: Architects Working for Developers in Southern California, 1960-1973 (Thesis, Master of Historic Preservation, University of Southern California, 2011)

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Air Bases -- California -- Kern County -- Archival resources
Air Bases -- California -- Los Angeles County -- Archival resources
Air Bases -- California -- San Bernardino County -- Archival resources
Apartment houses -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Apartment houses -- California -- West Hollywood -- Archival resources
Architects -- California -- Los Angeles -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Architects and builders -- California -- Archival resources
Architect-designed houses -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Architecture -- California -- Los Angeles -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Architecture, Domestic -- California -- Carlsbad -- Archival resources
Architecture, Modern -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Country clubs -- California -- Beverly Hills -- Archival resources
Country clubs -- California -- Los Angeles County -- Archival resources
Country clubs -- California -- Moreno Valley -- Archival resources
Country clubs -- California -- San Diego County -- Archival resources
High schools -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Housing -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Municipal government -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Navy-yards and naval stations -- California -- Los Angeles County -- Archival resources
Navy-yards and naval stations -- California -- San Diego County -- Archival resources
Parks -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Planned communities -- California -- Covina -- Archival resources
Planned communities -- California -- Daly City -- Archival resources
Planned communities -- California -- La Mesa -- Archival resources
Planned communities -- California -- Laguna Niguel -- Archival resources
Planned communities -- California -- Moorpark -- Archival resources
Planned communities -- California -- San Clemente -- Archival resources
Planned communities -- California -- Santa Barbara -- Archival resources
Planned communities -- Mexico -- Baja California Sur -- Archival resources
Resorts -- California -- Murrieta -- Archival resources
Restaurants -- California -- Beverly Hills -- Archival resources
Architectural drawings (visual works)
Awards
Certificates
Correspondence
Photographs
Renderings (drawings)
Slides (photographs)

Names:

Edward H Fickett, FAIA (Firm) -- Archives
African American Firefighter Museum -- Archives
American Institute of Architects -- Archives
Beverly Hills Country Club (Beverly Hills, Calif.) -- Archives
Burgener & Tavares -- Archives
Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Archives
G.M.B. Corporation -- Archives
Koppe Building Co. -- Archives
Los Angeles (Calif.). Dept. of Recreation and Parks. Silver Lake Recreation Center -- Archives
Los Angeles (Calif.). Dept. of Recreation and Parks. Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Recreation Center -- Archives
Los Angeles (Calif.). Fire Department. Fire Station 99 -- Archives
Los Angeles (Calif.). Harbor Dept. -- Archives
Los Angeles City Hall (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Archives
Los Angeles Unified School District -- Archives
National Association of Home Builders -- Archives
Sant and Sons -- Archives
Tanpin Homes, Inc. -- Archives
Adelson, Merv -- Archives -- California -- Carlsbad -- Homes and haunts
Frontiere, Georgia -- Archives -- California -- Homes and haunts -- Los Angeles
Frontiere, Georgia -- Archives -- California -- Homes and haunts -- Malibu
Frontiere, Georgia -- Archives -- Homes and haunts -- Missouri -- Saint Louis
Gersten, Albert -- Archives
Hommes, Ray -- Archives
Jacobson, George -- Archives -- California -- Homes and haunts -- Los Angeles
Lauger, Lee -- Archives
Lawrence, Steve, -- Archives -- Beverly Hills -- California -- Homes and haunts
Mack, Marilynn -- Archives -- California -- Homes and haunts -- Los Angeles
Rand, Marvin -- Archives
Steinkamp, Elwain -- Archives
Walters, Barbara -- Archives -- California -- Carlsbad -- Homes and haunts
Worchell, Larry -- Archives

Places:

Beverly Hills (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Archival resources
Cabo San Lucas (Baja California Sur, Mexico) -- Buildings, structures, etc -- Archival resources
California -- Housing -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Covina (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Archival resources
Daly City (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Archival resources
Edwards Air Force Base (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Archival resources
La Costa (San Diego County, Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Archival resources
La Mesa (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Archival resources
Laguna Niguel (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Archival resources
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Archival resources
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History -- Photographs
Moorpark (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Archival resources
Moreno Valley (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Archival resources
Murrieta (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Archival resources
Santa Barbara (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Archival resources
San Clemente (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Archival resources
West Hollywood (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Archival resources

Restrictions:

Advance notice required for access.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Collections at specol@usc.edu. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Preferred citation:

[Box/folder# or item name], Edward H. Fickett, FAIA, records, Collection no. 5014, University Archives, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California

Location of this collection:

University of Southern California, University Archives

Doheny Memorial Library, Room 209

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189, US

Contact:

(213) 740-2587

specol@usc.edu

Website