Edward Killingsworth American, 1917-2004

Edward Killingsworth was born in Taft, California on November 4, 1917. He studied at the University of Southern California, earning his Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1940, and simultaneously receiving the American Institute of Architects Medal for having the highest academic record in his class. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II, delaying his professional career until 1945. After returning from the war, Killingsworth worked for Long Beach architect Kenneth S. Wing. Killingsworth's design for a single- family residence for his in-laws in Los Alamitos, California attracted the interests of John Entenza of Art & Architecture Magazine. Case Study House 25 was Killingsworth's first solo project and was one of Southern California's first post and beam structures. He went on to design many highly acclaimed projects in and around Long Beach. One of them, the Opdahl House, also in Naples and just blocks away from Case Study House 25, received the 1960 AIA Honor Award. His work achieved wider recognition through the commission of both a residence and retail store for Morris and Edward Frank of Long Beach-one of the country's leading proponents of modern furnishing. Not confined to residential structures, Killingsworth's architectural projects grew in size and scale, from residential buildings in Southern California to luxury hotels in such exotic locales as Hawaii, Guam, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia. His highly attenuated sense of proportion and elegant structural expression are legacies of his practice. His archive is preserved at the Architecture and Design Collection at the University Art Museum at UC Santa Barbara. Killingsworth died on July 6, 2004 in Los Angeles, CA.