William Pereira belongs to the record of architecture as a figure whose buildings outlasted the taste that commissioned them.
The record lists William Pereira as American architect (1909-1985).
William Pereira was born at Chicago in 1909. His recorded nationality is United States. He trained at University of Illinois System and California Institute of Technology.
Modernism rejected ornament and historical style, arguing that a building should express its structure and its function - a claim contested ever since.
He is recorded as architect.
His work is associated with postmodern architecture.
Among his best-known works are Transamerica Pyramid and Bing Theatre. Architecture is the art that cannot be avoided: people live inside the argument.
Recognition followed: Rome Prize, Academy Award for Best Special Effects and Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.
That the work was built in United States shaped it: climate, materials, planning law and who holds the budget all decide what can actually be built.
William Pereira died in 1985, aged 76. The buildings remain, still in use by people who never knew the name - which is the particular afterlife architecture offers.
Achievements
- Notable work: Transamerica Pyramid
- Notable work: Bing Theatre
- Rome Prize
- Academy Award for Best Special Effects
- Fellow of the American Institute of Architects
- Movement: postmodern architecture
- Trained at University of Illinois System and California Institute of Technology
