Carl L. Maston (born Carl Mastopietro, June 17, 1915 – May 31, 1992) was an influential Los Angeles mid-century modern architect. __TOC__

Biography

Maston was born to an Italian father and English mother. Ultimately choosing the architectural profession over a career in music, Maston designed more than 100 buildings, including private residences, apartment buildings, shopping centers and large-scale institutional projects. Upon graduating from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

he worked for the offices of Floyd Rible, A. Quincy Jones, Fred Emmons, Phil Daniel, and Allied Architects. After serving in World War II, Maston returned to Los Angeles and opened his first office in Beverly Hills. In 1946, he was commissioned to build the Pandora Apartments, marking the beginning of his experimentation with gardenapartment design. In 1954, Maston completed his portion of the quintessential California apartment complex, the National Boulevard Apartments (Maston designed one building, architect

Ray Kappe Ray Kappe (August 4, 1927 – November 21, 2019) was an American architect and educator. In 1972, he resigned his position as Founding Chair of the Cal Poly Pomona College of Environmental Design, Department of Architecture at California State Pol ...

the other). In 1960, he designed the now demolished Valley Ice Skating Center which featured a barrel vaulted tensile concrete roof. Among his most noted accomplishments are the

Cal Poly Pomona College of Environmental Design The Cal Poly Pomona College of Environmental Design (CENV) is a college part of the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona). The college houses over 1,600 students; making it one of largest environmental design programs ...

, and the Creative Arts Building at the

California State University, San Bernardino California State University, San Bernardino (Cal State San Bernardino or CSUSB) is a public research university in San Bernardino, California. Founded in 1965, it is one of the 23 general campuses of the California State University system. The m ...

. In the 1980s he married Edith Carissimi, who for four decades, ran

Musso & Frank Grill Musso & Frank Grill is a restaurant located at 6667-9 Hollywood Boulevard in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles. The restaurant opened in 1919 and is named for original owners Joseph Musso and Frank Toulet. It is the oldest restaurant in H ...

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's oldest restaurant and celebrity haunt.

Works

Of his residential work,

the Thies Residence ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, the Hillside House, and the Maston Residence have been recently renovated by

Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

creator Ryan Murphy and published. The

still stands in almost original condition. The only modification being a seismic retrofit which added several exposed concrete ties around the brick portions of the building. The

Los Angeles Conservancy The Los Angeles Conservancy is a historic preservation organization in Los Angeles, California. It works to document, rescue and revitalize historic buildings, places and neighborhoods in the city. The Conservancy is the largest membership based ...

noted "With its exposed concrete, brick, and glass, Maston's design expresses itself in a functional yet aesthetically pleasing place for students to practice their craft."

References

Carl Maston; Architect's Works Dot the Southland Landscape
''LA Times'', June 3, 1992 {{DEFAULTSORT:Maston, Carl Architects from California Modernist architects USC School of Architecture alumni 1915 births 1992 deaths 20th-century American architects