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Finding Aid for the Elliot Mittler collection of Welton Becket and Associates Photograph Archives, 1940-1979
1325
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Title: Elliot Mittler collection of Welton Becket and Associates Photograph Archives
Date (inclusive): 1940-1979
Collection number: 1325
Creator:
Mittler, Elliot
Extent:
62 boxes (31.0 linear ft.)
Abstract: Welton Davis Becket (1902- ) was a Los Angeles based architect with Becket, Wurdeman, and Plummer (later renamed Welton Becket
and Associates) - one of the largest firms in Los Angeles with building credits throughout the world. He also served as the
Master Planner and Supervising Architect for UCLA from 1949 to 1969. After Becket's death, the firm continued under the same
name, directed by his nephew, MacDonald Becket. Around 1985, the firm was acquired by Ellerbe Incorporated to become Ellerbe
Becket. The collection consists of photographs related to the work of the Welton Becket & Associates architectural firm. Most
of the photographs represent projects in and around the Los Angeles area and include examples of both residential and commercial
buildings with interior and exterior views.
Language: Finding aid is written in
English.
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library,
Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of
the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC
Regents do not hold the copyright.
Photographs by Julius Shulman may not be copied.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Elliot Mittler, 1982, 1983.
[Identification of item], Elliot Mittler collection of Welton Becket and Associates Photograph Archives (Collection Number
1325). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
Welton Davis Becket was born in Seattle, Washington, on August 8, 1902; BA, Architecture, University of Washington, (1927),
with one year of graduate study at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Fontainebleau, France, (1928); partnered with Walter Wurdeman
and Charles Plummer under the name Becket, Wurdeman, and Plummer in 1933; following Plummer's death in 1939 and Wurdeman's
death in 1949, Becket continued the firm as Welton Becket and Associates, serving as President (1949-68) and Chairman of the
Board (1968) until his death in 1969; served as Master Planner and Supervising Architect, UCLA, 1949-69; Becket's philosophy
of total design, embracing all requirements demanded of architectural design, became integral to the firm; the firm's designs
are not identified with a particular style, but are individual to each client; the firm was one of the largest firms in Los
Angeles with building credits throughout the world, including: Pan Pacific Auditorium (with Wurdeman, 1934), Beverly Hilton
Hotel (1955), Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles Music Center (1964), Gulf Life Tower, Florida (1967), Xerox Square, New
York (1968), several Bullock's Department Stores in California (1951-77), and various UCLA campus structures (1958-70); after
Becket's death, the firm continued under the same name, directed by his nephew, MacDonald Becket; around 1985, the firm was
acquired by Ellerbe Incorporated to become Ellerbe Becket.
Collection consists of photographs related to the work of the Welton Becket & Associates architectural firm. Most of the photographs
represent projects in and around the Los Angeles area. Includes examples of both residential and commercial buildings with
interior and exterior views. Architectural photographers whose works are represented in this collection are: Glen Allison,
Orlando R. Cabanban, Fred S. Carr, Louis Checkman, Robert C. Cleveland, Gerbert Bruce Cross, Fred Daly, Philip Fein, Eddie
Hoff, Richard K. Koch, Balthazar Korab, Nathaniel Lieberman, Joseph W. Moliter, Rondal Partridge, Marvin Rand, Gerald Ratto,
Otto Rothschild, Ben Schnall, Gordon H. Schneck, Julius Shulman, Douglas Simmonds, Delmar Watson, Todd A. Watts, and Dick
Wittington.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Mittler, Elliot.
Welton Becket and Associates.
Architectural photography.
Architecture--Photographs.
Architectural Firms--California--Los Angeles.
Photographs.