Ira Yellin


Last spring, when we were discussing possible honorees, Ira was first on our list. Ira’s death last month was a tragic truncating of a great civic leader’s life. We honor Ira for his dedication to a life of vision, of public service, and of passion in making Los Angeles a great city. His accomplishments were many and his influence widely felt. Among others, he gave shape to the process that was used to select Rafeal Moneo as Architect for the Cathedral. He was developer of many important buildings and projects in our City: the Bradbury Building Restoration and the Grand Central Market Restoration, with Brenda Levin as Architect and the new CalTrans Headquarters Building, already under construction with Thom Mayne and Morphosis as Architects.
All of us in the Architecture and Design community will miss him, but we are all richer and better for having known him, or having worked with him, or even simply living in a community made better by his vision, leadership, and passion.
(posthumously awarded)