Source: Environmental Design Archives, College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley
Roger Y. Lee (1920 - 1981) was a brilliant architect who helped shape Bay Area Modernism from the 1940s through the 1970s. He was born in San Francisco, CA, and received his BA in Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley. Graduating just as the United States entered World War II, Lee served as an engineer in defense projects in Hawaii before returning to California and starting his own practice. His body of work encompassed single-family residential, multi-unit apartments, civic buildings, places of worship, and commercial offices in California and Hawaii. During an era of segregation, widespread anti-Asian racism, and societally imposed limitations for persons of color; Lee’s talents for strategic placement and small space configurations made him a standout amongst fellow architects of the time.
This tour highlights Lee’s idealized merchant builder plan of tract homes self-described Bay Region Style. Ahead of his time, Lee thoughtfully and skillfully designed homes to maximize smaller spaces, respect the existing landscape, and consider alternatives to nuclear family norms. Lee designed over 100 residential homes and dozens of other projects in the Bay Area. To explore Lee’s projects, please reference Docomomo US/NOCA’s map of currently identified Roger Lee projects.
On the tour, participants will explore the exteriors of Reed Place Housing Group, three identical homes designed by Lee. Attendees will also tour the interiors of two of the homes.
This tour’s purpose is to celebrate a prolific and acclaimed – yet currently underrecognized – architect whose name and work should be synonymous with the development of Second Bay Region Tradition design and Mid-Century Modernism in California. The tour meets in Kensington, California in the Berkeley Hills.