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Mittler (Elliot) collection of Welton Becket and Associates
Photograph Archives
LSC.1325
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Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Elliot Mittler collection of Welton Becket and Associates photograph
archives
Creator:
Mittler, Elliot
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.1325
Physical Description:
31 Linear Feet
(62 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1940-1979
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.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access
special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on
this page.
Language of Material:
English .
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in
advance using the request button located on this page.
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All
other 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.
[Identification of item], Elliot Mittler collection of Welton Becket and Associates
photograph archives (Collection Number 1325). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E.
Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Elliot Mittler, 1982, 1983.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make
them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and
resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level
of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts
more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to
national and local standards and best practices.
Processed by UCLA Library Special Collections staff.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
2470243
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.
Boxes 46-62 are not included in the finding aid because they contain duplicate photographs
described in boxes 1-36.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Photographs.
Architectural photographs.
Architectural firms -- California -- Los Angeles.
Architectural photography.
Welton Becket and Associates.
Mittler, Elliot