Lee, Roger, 1920-1981

Biographical Note

Roger Lee (1920-1981)

Roger Yuen Lee was born 1920 and received his bachelor's degree in Arts and Architecture from UC Berkeley with top design honors in 1941. He was a member of Delta Sigma Chi, the Honorary Architecture Fraternity. Between 1941 and 1945 he worked with William Hays, and Howard Moise on U.S. Post Offices, and served as an Assistant Engineer with the U.S. Engineers office in Honolulu working on various defense projects. Following the war he practiced for a year with a number of firms in the Los Angeles area, returning to the Bay Area in 1947. Between 1947 and 1948 he was associated with architect Fred Langhorst.

Lee was noted for the grace and clarity of his residential designs which made him one of the foremost proponents of the Bay Region Style after World War II. He received a number of awards and honors including "America's Best Small Houses, 1949" for his own Berkeley residence; an Award of Merit in the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Honor Awards Program, 1955 for the George Channing residence in Sausalito; and First Honor award in the AIA "Homes for Better Living Program, 1956" for the William Wilkinson House in Orinda. In 1957 the London Architectural Review recognized him as one of forty U.S. architects who have "made personal contributions to American Architecture." During the course of his California practice he designed nearly 100 residences, and a small number of apartments, housing projects, recreational facilities, and churches. In 1955 he designed a series of "Universal Homes" in Kensington CA. In 1964 he moved his practice to Hawaii. He died in 1981.

From the guide to the Roger Lee Collection, 1949-1968, (Environmental Design Archives.)