Homer T. Delawie, FAIA, was an award-winning

modernist architect Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that Form f ...

working (primarily) in San Diego from the late 1950s to the 1990s. He designed numerous public, commercial, and residential projects, including the

Bea Evenson Fountain Bea Evenson Fountain is an outdoor fountain in San Diego's Balboa Park, in the U.S. state of California. Designed by noted modernist architect Homer Delawie, the fountain honors Bea Evenson (1900–1981), the founding president of the park's Co ...

in the Plaza de Panama, Balboa Park, the

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Library, the M. Larry Lawrence Jewish Community Center and expansion, the Scripps Miramar Ranch High School, the School of Creative & Performing Arts in South Bay, the San Diego Hospice, and projects for UCSD, the

San Diego Zoo The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, housing 4000 animals of more than 650 species and subspecies on of Balboa Park leased from the City of San Diego. Its parent organization, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, is a p ...

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

, and

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. Born in Santa Barbara on September 24, 1927, Delawie worked in forestry as a teen before serving in the U.S. Navy at the end of World War II. He graduated from the new School of Architecture at

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (California Polytechnic State University, Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt in Arcata, California or California State Polytechnic Univ ...

in 1951. Delawie was the school's first licensed architect, its first National Design Award winner, and its first to be elected to the AIA’s National College of Fellows. Delawie worked briefly with modernist architect Lloyd Ruocco, FAIA, before opening his own office in 1962. His "Boxcar House" (Delawie Residence #1, 1958) in Mission Hills, a 17’ wide modernist house built on a 25' lot, merited his first architectural award. Two of Delawie's residential projects, both post and beam Modernist houses (from 1962 and 1973), are among San Diego Historic Landmarks in the Point Loma and Ocean Beach areas. Many of his residential projects were showcased in

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in the 1960s and 1970s, and examples of his work can be seen in Mission Hills, Del Mar, and Point Loma. In the 1980s, Delawie designed major public works such as the

SeaWorld SeaWorld is an American theme park chain with headquarters in Orlando, Florida. It is a proprietor of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, animal theme parks, and rehabilitation centers owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment (one park will be ...

Penguin Exhibit, the San Diego Police Headquarters, and the

Metropolitan Transit System The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (''SDMTS'' or often simply ''MTS'') is a public transit service provider for Central, South, Northeast and Southeast San Diego County. The agency directly operates a large transit system that includes th ...

's James R. Mills Building. In collaboration with architects Michael Wilkes and Larry Rose, he designed the

Reuben H. Fleet Science Center The Fleet Science Center (previously the 'Reuben H. Fleet Science Center') is a science museum and planetarium in Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park, located in San Diego, California. It is at the east end of the El Prado Drive walkway, next to ...

space theater expansion. Bea Evenson Fountain 3

He was engaged in civic planning and development issues in San Diego and served as chapter president of the AIA, and on a number of state and national committees and design juries. Locally he served on the city's Historical Resources Board and the Planning Commission and (with preservationist Robert Miles Parker) helped start the Save Our Heritage Organisation. In 1973, Delawie received the Cal Poly School of Architecture Distinguished Alumni Award. The National Urban Land Institute and the California and San Diego chapters of the AIA have awarded Delawie their highest honors, including Service Citations in 1972 and 1973, a Presidential Citation in 1997 and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. Projects by Delawie and his architecture firm have received over 65 design awards. Delawie died on June 26, 2009, in San Diego.

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