Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- William Pereira Collection
- Dates:
- 1969-2025
- Abstract:
- The collection contains the drawings, final master plans, meeting notes, and correspondence surrounding William Pereira's work to design the Pepperdine College campus at Malibu. It also includes articles, speeches, and Pepperdine library events that range from 1969-2025.
- Extent:
- 1.115 Linear Feet 1 flat Hollinger box and 2.6 Gigabytes 1 .mov file
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
-
[Box/folder# or item name], William Pereira Collection, Collection no. 0227, Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries, Pepperdine University.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
This collection contains materials surrounding William Pereira and William Pereira & Associates work to design the campus of Pepperdine College at Malibu (now called Pepperdine University), which began in 1969 and commenced in 1972. Included in the collection are correspondence with the University president and administration, preliminery review of costs, design renderings, meeting notes, the final master plan, a speech brochure given by Pereira, and video footage of a library event hosted to honor William Pereira.
- Biographical / historical:
-
William Pereira was born in 1909 in Chicago. He received a degree from the University of Illinois School of Architecture before moving to Los Angeles in 1933, where he set up his first private practice. In the 1940s, he had a brief stint as a Hollywood art director, during which he even won an Academy Award for Best Special Effects. In 1949 Pereira became a professor of architecture at the University of Southern California, and shortly after, he formed a partnership with architect Charles Luckman. The pair's firm designed some of Los Angeles' most well-known buildings in the 1950s, including the Theme Tower at Los Angeles International Airport and the Disneyland Hotel, before parting ways and Pereira establishing his final firm, William L. Pereira & Associates.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Pereira took on his most ambitious projects, including developing master plans for Pepperdine's Malibu campus. This later stage of his career also saw the design of several landmark buildings such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Geisel Library at the University of California, San Diego; and the Transamerica Building in San Francisco.
Source: Curtis-Castillo, J., Pepperdine Libraries explores the enduring legacy of Pepperdine campus architect William Pereira through Julius Shulman's photography. Available at: https://www.pepperdine.edu/newsroom/articles/pepperdine-exhibition-featuring-photography-by-julius-shulman-of-architect-william-pereiras-buildings.htm (Accessed: 29 April 2025).
- Acquisition information:
- Materials have all been gifted and transferred from University archive files and entities including the M. Norvel and Helen Young papers, Speeches collection, Individual Files, and Pepperdine Libraries.
- Dimensions:
- 18 3/8" x 13 3/8" x 3"
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-05-05 18:46:47 +0000 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Advance notice required for access.
- Terms of access:
-
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Box/folder# or item name], William Pereira Collection, Collection no. 0227, Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries, Pepperdine University.
- Location of this collection:
-
24255 Pacific Coast HighwayMalibu, CA 90263-4786, US
- Contact:
- (310) 506-4323