William Wurster

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William Wilson Wurster (1895 - 1973) was an influential American architect and architectural teacher at the University of California, Berkeley and at MIT.

Wurster was born in Stockton, California and is strongly associated with the Bay Area and its regional style, along with Wurster's mentor Bernard Maybeck, the landscape architect Thomas Church, and fellow architect Joseph Esherick. Wurster built hundreds of California houses in the 1920s through the 1940s using indigenous materials and a direct, simple style suited to the climate. His 1928 Gregory Farmhouse in Scotts Valley is regarded as the prototypical ranch-style house.

In 1940 Wurster married Catherine Bauer, an influential figure in her own right in the field of public housing. Both withstood accusations of disloyalty during the Red Scare of the 1950s.

Wurster was the recipient of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Gold Medal for Lifetime Achievement and the co-founder of the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design, where Wurster Hall is named in his and his wife's honor.

[edit] External links

• Biographical notes on William Wurster
• A thorough on-line catalog of Wurster's houses, including the Gregory Farmhouse, with photos
• William Wurster designed homes in Marin County
• Finding aid to the William W. Wurster/Wurster, Bernardi & Emmons Collection at the Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley