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Esther McCoy                   1. Career -1

1. Career
I have been an architectural historian, critic and journalist since 1945, and before that a researcher, a wartime engineering draftsman, then an architectural draftsman in the R.M. Schindler office (1944-47). During that time I was publishing fiction in The New Yorker, Harper's Bazaar and university quarterlies.

From 1951 to 1967 I was on the editorial board of Arts & Architecture, contributing some fifty articles and several full issues. In 1969 I was made an associate editor of Progressive Architecture, and am now a correspondent. I have also contributed numerous articles to architectural journals in Mexico, Italy, England, and Japan. I was one of the American critics invited by the Brazillian Government to attend the opening of their new capital, Brasilia. In 1960 the Italian Government decorated me with the Stella della Solidarieta for writings on crafts and architecture. I have been a contributing editor of the Italian architectural journals Zodiac and Lotus [[strikethrough]] and Arredamento. [[/strikethrough]

I have published four books on architecture, and a fifth is due in 1979. "Five California Architects" (Reinhold, 1960; Praeger, 1975) documented the first generation modern architects of the West Coast; "Neutra" (Braziller, 1960) continued the investigation. "Modern California Houses: Case Study Houses" (Reinhold 1962; Hennessey and Ingalls, 1978) reached into the second generation moderns, and "Craig Ellwood" (Walker, 1968) examined the work of one postwar architect. "Vienna to Los Angeles: Two Journeys" is concerned with the Los Angeles of the 1920s and 30s and the part played by R.M. Schindler and Richard Neutra.

I have written several catalogs for traveling architectural shows, beginning in 1956 with "Roots of California Contemporary Architecture" for the Los Angeles Municipal Art Dept.; I wrote the catalog on a show on Felix Candela for Department of Architecture at USC in 1957; two catalogs for the Los Angeles Museum of Art were "Irving Gill," 1958, and "Ten Italian Architects," 1967. I contributed chapters for two catalogs for Minneapolis Art Center shows, the last on Charles and Ray Eames, 1974. I wrote the text for the 1947 film, "Architecture West," and produced and wrote the film, "The Dodge House," in 1965. I was a consultant for the California Arts Commission (1965) and for 100 Years of the AIA show (1957).

I was a part-time lecturer at UCLA School or Architecture and Urban Planning (1965-68) and full-time lecturer for two quarters at UC Santa Barbara. I was appointed Regents Lecturer (one month) at UC Santa Barbara in 1967, and for UC Santa Cruz in 1974.

I have been a member of the Society of Architectural Historians since 1958, and have twice contributed to their Journal; I was on the Board of Directors from 1971 to 1975. I was a member of the Southern California committee to select buildings for documentation by the Historic American Buildings Survey, and wrote the reports on twenty or so buildings now on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1973 I documented the San Francisco and San Diego customs houses for the General Services