Leadership in Architecture
My Passion in Life
by
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My uncle, Welton Becket, practiced architecture from the 1930s through the 1960s. He developed and implemented the philosophy of “Total Design,” the basis of a book published in 1972 after his untimely death in 1969. At that point, I took over the reins of our architecture firm, Welton Becket and Associates. One of my goals in writing this book was to illustrate and elaborate with personal stories the concept of “Total Design,” which I carried on and expanded in running our architecture practice.
In the decades from the 1930s through the 1980s, under the guidance of my uncle and then mine, Welton Becket and Associates designed and built hundreds of projects, many of them high profile, all over the country and around the world – the Los Angeles Music Center; Century City; the Grand Ole Opry House; Dallas Reunion project; Eisenhower Hall at West Point; renovation of the Boston Common; buildings in Australia and New Zealand; the World Trade Center in Moscow, USSR; the Great Wall Hotel in Beijing, China; multiple buildings for the Samsung Corporation in Seoul, Korea, to name a few. The firm employed thousands of employees, including architects, engineers, and interior professionals, in various worldwide offices. “Leadership in Architecture: My Passion in Life” describes the stories of how some of these projects came about and the people who were involved.
There are photographs of Welton Becket and Associates’ projects throughout this book. For clarification, I should say that all the projects shown were done when I was a project team member, project architect, the company’s president, or chairman of the board. I’m not trying to impart new knowledge in this writing because a lot has changed since the 1940s when I began my career. However, I do want to communicate historical knowledge about architecture and doing business in foreign countries in the “old days.” After all, history does repeat itself. Here, I also write about how my associates and I went about developing a worldwide architecture practice, always challenged along the way but having a lot of fun. I don’t know how many countries I actually have visited, but I found that, for the most part, people all over the world are motivated in the same way and want to live peacefully. Of course, recent history shows there are a small number of misguided and aggressive groups that can stand in the way of the majority going about living their lives.
Over the course of my career, particularly in the latter half, I have been in countless conversations with all kinds of people. Undoubtedly during those exchanges, I would recount some of the adventures I had experienced during my professional life. To a person, the listeners encouraged me to write a book someday. That someday has arrived, and the following reflects some of the interesting people with whom I have dealt and some of the uncanny occurrences I've faced. Other intentions for writing this book are that I'd like my extended family to know about some of the exciting ventures I had over the years, and if another architect or business person can read this and relate to my thoughts, that would be excellent.
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About the Book
“Leadership in Architecture: My Passion in Life” spans the decades from the 1940s to the 1980s. It focuses on the professional career in architecture of MacDonald Becket, FAIA, and the projects of Welton Becket and Associates and the Becket Group. An architecture firm headquartered in Los Angeles, California, its projects were located across the country and around the world, including Century City in Los Angeles; the renovation of the California State Capitol; Eisenhower Hall at West Point; Hyatt Reunion project in Dallas; the redevelopment of the Boston Common; six buildings in Seoul, Korea; the Great Wall Hotel in Beijing, China; and the World Trade Center in Moscow, USSR, to name just a few. His clients ranged from presidents of the United States to American captains of industry to the Shah of Iran. Furthering his uncle Welton Becket’s philosophy of “Total Design,” MacDonald Becket, and professionals under his leadership, focused on the client and provided full services—from analyzing the architectural problem and researching the best financially feasible solution to interpreting the solution into the best design that would include such details as landscaping, art, and furniture. The total design, from start to finish, of a project, with the client as the focus, guided the company’s thought process for every project. Don Becket tells his personal view of his professional career building an international practice with multiple offices. The book features stories of challenging clients and sites, working in foreign (often unfriendly) countries, and managing a growing company. He weaves in lessons learned throughout his life and describes his approach to architecture and business. He practiced during the Cold War era and saw many changes in the field of architecture—from technology and materials to contracts and business practice. According to Becket, “Architecture is not designing a pretty building. The architect must create a project that not only looks professional and pleasing but also fulfills financial goals and user functions. Every aspect of the project must be sustainable for a very long time.” In “Leadership in Architecture: My Passion in Life,” Don Becket describes how he and his company kept those goals in mind for every project over multiple decades. His stories within are examples of his efforts.
About the Author
MacDonald Becket was president of Welton Becket and Associates and chairman of The Becket Group, a large Los Angeles-based firm consisting of architects, planners, engineers, interior designers, space planners and programmers, and allied specialists offering comprehensive total design services on a worldwide basis. Over the years, the firm increased the scope of its work to include almost every major building type - from convention and civic centers to hotels, corporate office buildings, and major mixed-use complexes. Mr. Becket became a driving force in the development of architecture in Los Angeles and around the world. Two of his major roles in California were as coordinating architect for the master planning and architectural implementation of the 260-acre Century City project and in the successful renovation of the state capitol building in Sacramento. Mr. Becket was instrumental in the design and development of the 4500 seat theater, Eisenhower Hall, at West Point; the Washington, DC, Convention Center; Terminal One at the Los Angeles International Airport; the Federal Courts Building in downtown Los Angeles; the Reunion Hyatt Regency in Dallas; several hotels at Orlando’s Disney World; Barclays Bank in New York, New York; and the redevelopment of the Boston Common. He expanded Becket’s development, investment, and international roles resulting in the unprecedented largest American joint venture in the People’s Republic of China with the 1006 room Great Wall Hotel in Beijing and in the former USSR with the World Trade Center in Moscow. Six major projects for the Samsung Corporation in Seoul, Korea, were also accomplished under his direction. Mr. Becket graduated from the University of Southern California in 1952 with a bachelor’s degree in architecture and later received a certificate in business economics from the University. He currently lives with his wife, Diane, of 32 years in Phoenix, AZ, and has 4 sons, 9 grandchildren, and 3 great grandchildren.