Hammer Museum shines a light on Eichler
architect as retrospective opens this week

Unlike some of today’s starchitects, A. Quincy Jones didn’t design buildings that would look better on the walls of a museum than on the street.

A serious-minded man who created functional buildings, Jones (1913-1979), with his partner Frederick Emmons, also created entire communities, integrating homes with parks, community centers and safe roadways, as he did at Greenmeadow, Joe Eichler’s historic subdivision in Palo Alto.

Still, ‘A. Quincy Jones: Building for Better Living,’ running May 25 through September 8 at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, will offer lots of striking imagery, with new photos by Jason Schmidt and classics from Ernie Braun, among others. This is the first major retrospective of his work.

Also on display will be a Case Study House model, architectural drawings, and more. According to the curators, the exhibit will explore “Jones’ collaborative practice” with corporation like Herman Miller and colleagues.

The exhibit will focus on the range of Jones’ work, tract houses, high-end residential, restaurant design, churches, libraries, and schools. Accompanying the exhibit will be a catalog of the same name.

For more on the Hammer’s Jones exhibit, click here.