William L. Pereira and Associates

In the late 1950s, Architect William Pereira was hired by the University of California (UC) Regents to help identify a suitable site in the Southeast Los Angeles-Orange County area for the next UC campus.

The site chosen was the 93,000 acre Irvine Ranch, 1,000 acres of which were dedicated to the new campus. Pereira was hired to be the master architect of both the UC Irvine (UCI) campus and the City of Irvine. With input from UCI Chancellor Daniel Aldrich and UC President Clark Kerr, Pereira conceived of the campus as two concentric rings around which buildings would stand, with a park at the center. This circular design would allow student residence halls to be near the academic buildings and keep the time to walk from building to building under ten minutes. Buildings were grouped together by function and academic discipline. The library, administration, and student union were situated on the north side of campus, adjacent to the humanities and fine arts. The science buildings were placed on the south side. Pereira presented his campus plan to the UC Regents at two meetings in October and December 1962, where it passed with only one dissenting vote. William L. Pereira was born on April 25, 1909 in Chicago, Illinois. He earned a degree in architecture from the University of Illinois in 1930, after which he was hired by the Chicago firm Holabird & Root. Pereira left the firm in 1932 to practice privately. At the Chicago 1933 exposition, he won 22 out of 25 industrial-design competitions. Pereira moved to Los Angeles in 1938 and was hired to design a new studio for Paramount Pictures. He also taught in the architecture department at the University of Southern California and designed the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Los Angeles International Airport, the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco, several buildings on the UC Santa Barbara campus, the UC San Diego library, and CBS Television City, among others. He died on November 13, 1985 in Los Angeles.

From the description of William L. Pereira and Associates project workbooks for the University of California, Irvine campus, 1962. (University of California, Irvine). WorldCat record id: 190865437

Historical Background

In the late 1950s, Architect William Pereira was hired by the University of California (UC) Regents to help identify a suitable site in the Southeast Los Angeles-Orange County area for the next UC campus. The site chosen was the 93,000 acre Irvine Ranch, 1,000 acres of which were dedicated to the new campus. Pereira was hired to be the master architect of both the UC Irvine (UCI) campus and the City of Irvine.

With input from UCI Chancellor Daniel Aldrich and UC President Clark Kerr, Pereira conceived of the campus as two concentric rings around which buildings would stand, with a park at the center. This circular design would allow student residence halls to be near the academic buildings and keep the time to walk from building to building under ten minutes. Buildings were grouped together by function and academic discipline. The library, administration, and student union were situated on the north side of campus, adjacent to the humanities and fine arts. The science buildings were placed on the south side.

Pereira presented his campus plan to the UC Regents at two meetings in October and December 1962, where it passed with only one dissenting vote.

William L. Pereira was born on April 25, 1909 in Chicago, Illinois. He earned a degree in architecture from the University of Illinois in 1930, after which he was hired by the Chicago firm Holabird & Root. Pereira left the firm in 1932 to practice privately. At the Chicago 1933 exposition, he won 22 out of 25 industrial-design competitions. Pereira moved to Los Angeles in 1938 and was hired to design a new studio for Paramount Pictures. He also taught in the architecture department at the University of Southern California and designed the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Los Angeles International Airport, the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco, several buildings on the UC Santa Barbara campus, the UC San Diego library, and CBS Television City, among others. He died on November 13, 1985 in Los Angeles.

• 1961 January 20: UC Regents formally accepted the gift of 1,000 acres in Orange County from The Irvine Company.
• 1961 November: Regents appointed William L. Pereira & Associates as architect-planners for the campus.
• 1961 December: UC Regents' New Campus Planning Committee approved request of $1 million for site preparation, utilities, roads, and planting.
• 1962 January 19: UCI Chancellor Aldrich appointed.
• 1962 January 23: Pereira delivered a progress report on the campus planning to President Kerr, Chancellor Aldrich and Irvine Company President Charles Thomas.
• 1962 March 2: Regents announce intent to negotiate for purchase of the "Inclusion Area," which was land surrounding the campus to be reserved primarily for affordable campus housing and services to support the campus community.
• 1962 March 22: Pereira delivered progress report to the UC Regents Grounds and Buildings Committee.
• 1962 March 26: UC Regents and Pereira determine that phase three of the planning should include further exploration of the number of academic quadrangles, the use and size of park, a possible alternate location of the student center, the relationship of the central campus to the Inclusion Area, and possible uses for the outer campus areas.
• 1962 March 30: Landscaping contract awarded to Hahn & Hoffman of Sierra Madre. Fred Lang of Laguna Beach and Robert Carter of Los Angeles selected to act as landscaping consultants.
• 1962 April 11: Pereira team met with President Kerr, Chancellor Aldrich, and Regent Donald McLaughlin to review planning process. Gained approval for the central park, five major quad areas, uses planned for the outer campus, and three Inclusion Area "village centers" adjacent to the campus.
• 1962 May 9: Pereira team met with President Kerr, Chancellor Aldrich, and Regent McLaughlin and obtained approval for the ring and circular form, and an additional quad for the School of Engineering.
• 1962 May 17: The UC Regents Grounds and Buildings Committee approved Pereira's General Long Range Development Plan as presented.
• 1962 December: Final plan approved by Regents.
• 1963: The Irvine Company sold an additional 510 acres to UC.
• 1964 June 20: UCI campus dedicated by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
• 1965: The first eight permanent buildings opened on UCI's main campus: Campus Hall (now Crawford Hall), Central Plant, Science Lecture Hall (now Schneiderman Hall), Biological Sciences I, Main Library (now Langson Library), Humanities/Social Sciences (now Krieger Hall), Commons (now Gateway Study Center) and Humanities Hall.

From the guide to the William L. Pereira and Associates project workbooks for the University of California, Irvine campus, 1962, (University of California, Irvine. Library. Special Collections and Archives.)