Shaping Generations of Architects

Two early high school architecture programs—Polytechnic High School in Los Angeles as of 1904 and Kern County High School in Bakersfield as of 1910—trained a cadre of architects that would populate the architectural programs of prestigious universities and would ultimately shape the built environment of Southern California and beyond. The programs’ charismatic founders, both trained in the Beaux-Arts pedagogical tradition and styles, transitioned to practical vocational training and became proponents of modernism. Their programs took steps to diversify the architectural profession in terms of race/ethnicity and gender. The graduates of their programs introduced advances in building codes and designed significant architectural landmarks.