Midcentury architect William Krisel dies at 92

William Krisel, a Southern California-based architect known for his Modernist designs, died Monday. He was 92.

Krisel, who designed more than 30,000 homes in Southern California, is credited with introducing mid-century architecture to postwar, mass-produced homes in suburban developments.

In L.A. county, his designs include homes in the Corbin Palms neighborhood in Woodland Hills, the Living-Conditioned Homes in Northridge and the Fidelity Federal Savings and Loan building in Glendale, which now houses U.S. Bank.

His signature butterfly roofs can be found all over Palm Springs as well as in Bel Air and Brentwood, according to the Desert Sun.

One of Krisel’s most famous works is the “House of Tomorrow” in Palm Springs, the famous “honeymoon hideout” of Elvis and Priscilla Presley in 1967.

Krisel is survived by his wife, Corinne, and two children.

“He was a prolific and innovative architect whose pioneering work has led him to become of the most important figures in American Midcentury Modern architecture,” Lisa Vossler Smith, executive director of Modernism Week, told the Los Angeles Times. [Desert Sun] — Cathaleen Chen