Paul R. Williams

The exhibition “Paul R. Williams: An Architect Considered,” organized jointly by the USC School of Architecture and the USC Fisher Museum of Art, is the first major exhibition to explore the contributions of pioneering architect Paul R. Williams (1894–1980) to modern multifamily housing and urban Black communities. It presents rarely seen archival drawings, photographs, and plans for the first time, combining them with newly commissioned works by leading contemporary artists, architects, and filmmakers. In doing so, it sheds new light on Williams’ long-underrated body of work and addresses pressing discussions about race, justice, and the future of American cities.

While Williams’ stately residences, designed for the affluent elite, were widely celebrated, his solutions for affordable multifamily housing received less attention, even though Williams strove tirelessly throughout his career to reimagine Modernism for a diverse range of clients and users.
The exhibition “Paul R. Williams: An Architect Considered” highlights 31 residential projects from his long career, focusing on Williams’ innovative solutions for communal living, particularly in Los Angeles during the Second Great Migration, a period of rapid urbanization. More than 60 items from the Paul R. Williams archive—acquired jointly by the Getty Research Institute and the USC School of Architecture in 2020—are presented in dialogue with significant new commissioned works by Edgar Arceneaux, Current Interests (Matthew Au and Mira Henry), the enFOLD Collective (Dana McKinney White and Megan Echols), Darell W. Fields, David Hartt, Cory Henry, and Amanda Williams, as well as a selection of existing works by photographers Julius Shulman and Janna Ireland.

Related Exhibitions at the Getty and LACMA

Paul R. Williams: Architect for Living, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, November 15, 2026 – May 31, 2027

Paul R. Williams: Architecture Across the Color Line, Getty Research Institute, December 15, 2026 – March 14, 2027