William H. Fain, Jr., FAIA

William H. Fain, Jr., FAIA

Partner | Director of Urban Design + Planning

William Fain is an architect and urban designer with an international reputation and a long list of professional honors.  He is a native Californian who took degrees from UC Berkeley (Bachelor of Architecture) and the Harvard Graduate School of Design (Master of Architecture in Urban Design), also spending a term at Manchester University in England.  Mr. Fain worked with Jacquelin T. Robertson as an urban designer in the Office of Midtown Planning & Development of New York City during the Lindsay administration.  Continuing his work in the public sector, he served as senior architect and urban designer for the Boston Redevelopment Authority while at Harvard and senior architect and urban designer for New Community Development Corporation in Washington, D.C.  In 1980 he joined Pereira Associates as Director of Urban Design and transitioned the firm to its current status since its inception in 1987.  During his career, he has won two separate Fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts and Humanities and was the recipient of a Rome Prize Fellowship at the American Academy in Rome,  Italy. He has taught at Harvard University and the Southern California Institute of Architecture.

Mr. Fain has practiced architecture and urban planning for over 35 years.  He is the managing partner and directs master planning and urban design for Johnson Fain, a firm of 50 architects, planners and interior designers, headquartered in downtown Los Angeles. With extensive experience in urban design, community planning, downtown redevelopment and transit-oriented development, his career has focused on advancing the practice of urban design as a bridge between the public good and private benefit.  His projects have won several national AIA and Progressive Architecture awards including Mission Bay in San Francisco, Beijing’s new Central Business District, the Greenways Plan for Los Angeles and the American Indian Cultural Center in Oklahoma.

Education

  • Master of Architecture & Urban Design, Harvard University, 1975
  • University of Manchester, England, 1970
  • Bachelor of Architecture, University of California, Berkeley, 1968

Professional Highlights

  • College of Fellows, American Institute of Architects
  • Past Treasurer, AIA, Los Angeles Chapter
  • Founders Circle, Los Angeles Music Center
  • Founder, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles
  • Lecturer, USC, SCI-Arc and UCLA Extension
  • Past Faculty Member, Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc)
  • Board Member, Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc)
  • Member, Board of Visitors, Claremont University Graduate Humanities Center
  • Member, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
  • Member, Blue Hill Troupe, New York
  • Past President, Architecture & Design Council, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
  • Past Chair, AIA/LA Transportation Committee
  • Past Chair, AIA/LA Urban Design Committee
  • AIA / Los Angeles Gold Medal, 2008
  • Rome Prize Fellowship, American Academy, Rome, Italy
  • Fellow, Institute of Urban Design, New York
  • Friedman Associate Professor, UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design, Department of Architecture
  • Pacific Design Center Star of Design Award, Urban Design
  • Chair, National AIA Regional and Urban Design Committee
  • Chair, National AIA Urban Design Awards Program Exhibitor, Urban Revisions Show
  • Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) for Greenways Plan of Metropolitan Los Angeles
  • Presenter, Vision 2000 with David Hockney and Charles Jencks at UCLA
  • Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Construction Industry Lifetime Achievement Award