Sixties@60

Sixties@60

We hope that you will join Orange Legacy Alliance in celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Orange Civic Center. Designed by master architect Welton Becket and opened in 1963, the Civic Center complex featured an overtly modern design, emblematic of the forward-thinking aspirations prevalent in the post-war era. Headlining this event are lectures by two nationally renowned historians, Alan Hess and Kelly Comras. Please join our community in learning more about this important community landmark.

The event is free and open to all, but due to limited space, reservations are required.

Featured Speakers

Alan Hess

Architect and historian Alan Hess is author of twenty-one books on Modern architecture; his subjects include John Lautner, Oscar Niemeyer, Frank Lloyd Wright, the Ranch House, Las Vegas, and Palm Springs. He is a Commissioner on the California State Historical Resources Commission, and serves on the boards of Preserve Orange County and Palm Springs Modernism Week.

He has received grants from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and the Clarence Stein Foundation. Awards for his work conserving Modern architecture include the Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Docomomo/US's Award of Excellence, and the President’s Award from the Los Angeles Conservancy.

Kelly Comras, FASLA

Kelly Comras is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and she is also a member of the State Bar of California. Her practice focuses on research and publication in the field of cultural landscape. She is a founding member of The Cultural Landscape Foundation’s Stewardship Council, and has served as President of the California Garden & Landscape History Society. Her book about a significant mid-century landscape architect, Ruth Shellhorn, was released in 2016. Comras lectures at such institutions as Harvard Graduate School of Design, the Society of Architectural Historians, and others. She has won numerous awards for her work including a recent California Preservation Foundation award for her contribution to the Historic American Landscape Survey for the Virginia Robinson Gardens in Beverly Hills.