Smith and Williams: Blue Ribbon Construction Company tract housing (Northridge, Calif.)

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Description

The great variety of work in the Smith and Williams’s office mirrors the growth of Los Angeles, so it is not surprising that they designed more than 50 tract housing projects. One of the best is a small development of 13 houses in Northridge for the Blue Ribbon Construction Company. Smith and Williams sited the houses diagonally to increase privacy between adjacent houses and to provide longer vistas.

Explaining the thinking regarding the design of tract housing, Williams was quoted as saying, “The cost of land has made it impossible for the architect to think of designing a house as a space with four walls.”

Creator

Smith and Williams, architects
Julius Shulman, photographer

Source

Smith & Williams records, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.

Date

1952-1953

Rights

© J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10)

Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Copyright restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. University of California Regents.

Collection

Citation

Smith and Williams, architects Julius Shulman, photographer, “Smith and Williams: Blue Ribbon Construction Company tract housing (Northridge, Calif.),” UCSB ADC Omeka, accessed March 28, 2024, http://www.adc-exhibits.museum.ucsb.edu/items/show/516.