Discover Paul R Williams' Designs through Drawing

Experience Paul R Williams' architectural drawings up close through a hands-on drawing workshop led by architect, educator, and curator Valéry Augustin. Participants will examine Williams' drawing techniques, design process, and creative approach while gaining a deeper appreciation for his work and lasting legacy. No prior drawing experience is required. Open to the public (ages 17+). All materials will be provided. RSVP is required. Space is limited. About the instructor: Valéry Augustin is the Professor of Practice at the University of Southern California School of Architecture and is the founder and principal of the award-winning design practice DNA Architecture + Design, Inc. Based in Los Angeles, DNA Architecture + Design is a multi-disciplinary practice focused on community-oriented projects and engaged in architecture, interiors, and exhibition design. Alongside commissioned projects, DNA Architecture + Design also pursues theoretical investigations and research focused on urban issues and architectural representation. Before establishing his practice, Professor Augustin was a designer at several internationally recognized design firms, including Swanke Hayden Connell Architects in London, England; Oppenheim Architecture and Design in Miami, Florida; and Frederick Fisher and Partners Architects in Los Angeles, California. Professor Augustin’s work has been exhibited at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in North Carolina, the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., and at galleries in Miami and Los Angeles. In 2004, he curated and designed an exhibition titled Recent Departures at UCLA. In 2006, Professor Augustin led a multidisciplinary team of architects, planners, and developers participating in PropX, Inventing the Next LA; an invited competition aimed at providing new approaches to urban problems such as affordable housing, homelessness, traffic, and sustainability. The work of DNA Architecture + Design has been published widely and recognized by the design community with awards including an AIA LA Residential Design and Restaurant Design Award. About the exhibition: Paul R. Williams: An Architect Considered debuts recently acquired archival drawings, photographs, and plans and pairs them with newly commissioned works by leading contemporary artists, architects, and filmmakers, reframing Paul R Williams’s long under-recognized work and addressing urgent conversations about race, equity, and the future of American cities. A pivotal figure in 20th-century architecture and civil rights advocacy who studied architectural engineering at USC, Williams was the first Black architect licensed west of the Mississippi. He was also the first known Black member of the American Institute of Architects nationwide (1923), its first Black Fellow (1957), and the first and only Black architect to receive its highest honor, the Gold Medal (posthumously, 2017). Over a career spanning nearly six decades, he is estimated to have designed approximately 3,000 structures, making him one of the most prolific and influential architects of his time. Highlighting 31 housing projects from his long career, Paul R. Williams: An Architect Considered spotlights Williams’ innovative solutions for collective living, primarily in Los Angeles, during the second Great Migration, a period of rapid urbanization. More than 60 items from the Paul R. Williams Archive, which was jointly acquired in 2020 by the USC School of Architecture and the Getty Research Institute, will be shown in conversation with major new commissions, as well as a selection of existing works by photographers Julius Shulman and Janna Ireland. Image: Jointly owned by the Getty Research Institute (2020.M.6.35) and the University of Southern California School of Architecture. © Della M. Williams Trust Dated December 15, 1988.