Morgan, Walls & Clements

Mayan Theater, Los Angeles

Morgan, Walls & Clements was an architectural firm based in Los Angeles, California and responsible for many of the city's landmarks, dating back to the late 19th century. Originally Morgan and Walls, with principals Octavius Morgan and John A. Walls, the firm worked in the area from before the turn of the century.

Around 1910 Morgan's son O.W. Morgan was promoted, the elder Morgan retired, and with the emergence of designer Stiles O. Clements (1883–1966) the firm hit its stride with a series of theaters and commercial projects around MacArthur Park. Clements often worked in Spanish Colonial revival and Mayan revival styles, but their major project was the black Art Deco Richfield Tower, a commanding presence in downtown from its 1928 completion to its 1969 destruction. Walls did not live to see the completion of the building, as he had died in 1922.

Clements left the firm in 1937 to start his own practice, Stiles O. Clements & Associates, where he remained until his retirement in 1965.

Works

Their work includes:

• Van Nuys Apartments, Los Angeles, 1913
• The Haas Building, Los Angeles, 1915
• D. Getson Embroidery, Los Angeles, 1923
• El Capitan Theatre, Los Angeles, 1926
• Music Box Theater, Los Angeles, 1926
• Belasco Theater, Los Angeles, 1926
• Ninth & Hill Building, Los Angeles, 1926
• Mayan Theater, Los Angeles, 1927
• Downtown Shopping News, Printing & Distribution Building, Los Angeles, 1927
• Chapman Plaza, 1929
• The Deco Building, 1929
• Richfield Tower, Los Angeles, 1929 (razed)
• Samson Uniroyal Tire Factory (now Citadel Outlets), Commerce, California. The facade design was based on the palace of Sargon II
• Security First National Bank, Los Angeles, 1929
• Adamson House, Malibu, California, 1930
• Leimert Theatre, Leimert Park, Los Angeles, 1931
• Pellissier Building and Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles, 1931
• Dominguez-Wilshire Building (5410 Wilshire Boulevard), Los Angeles, 1931
• The Adams Square Building (1100 E. Chevy Chase Dr), Glendale, 1928
• The Blackstone Building (Los Angeles), refurbished 1939
• The Bumiller Building, Los Angeles, 1906
• The Olive J. Cobb Building, Los Angeles, 1924

References

• Emporis.com: the works of Morgan, Walls & Clements