There is no creativity without vulnerability. And in the 1950’s William Krisel saw a need and filled it with thousands of happy home owners. William Krisel, a pioneering architect who brought his vision of modernism to Southern California tract housing, died Monday at age 92.

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Krisel was a pioneer in what we call today, MCM Mid-Century Modern architecture. Krisel’s timeless, modernist approach to design, reproduced in more than 30,000 tract homes, condos and custom residences throughout Southern California and 10,000 living units elsewhere, progressed the style of low-profile dwellings that relied on nature’s landscape as much as walls and glass to set an aesthetic.

This type of building worked well in warmer climates back in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Ton of glass and open spaces. Today, you can build this way in colder areas like Steamboat Springs but you need to be keenly aware of insulation values and superior heating. But the end result is fabulous.

Thanks to William Krisel for stepping outside the box and building cool homes for people to live in.

Here’s a great NPR story on his life. 

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