Architectural Assistant, Sir Colin St. John Wilson and Partners, Architects, London, UK, 1972; Project Manager, Frank O. Gehry and Associates, Incorporated, Santa Monica, CA, 1973-1976; Project Architect, Charles W. Moore / Urban Innovations Group, (Group associate with UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, 1976-1978; Partner, Appleton / Phelps Architects, Incorporated, Los Angeles, CA, 1978-1980; Director of Architecture, Urban Innovations Group, UCLA, Westwood, Los Angeles, 1980-1984; Principal, Barton Phelps & Associates, Architects and Planners, Los Angeles, CA, 1984-present.

Teaching Assistant to Professor Vincent Scully, Jr., Yale University, History of Art Department, New Haven, CT, 1970-71; Assistant Professor, Rice University, School of Architecture, Houston, TX, 1977-1979; Assistant Professor, University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA), Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Westwood, Los Angeles, 1979-1983; Assistant Dean, UCLA, Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Westwood, Los Angeles, 1980-1983; Associate Professor (Adjunct), UCLA, Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Westwood, Los Angeles, 1984-1990; Adjunct Professor (Step III), UCLA, (renamed School of the Arts and Architecture), Westwood, Los Angeles, 1991-2000.

Fellow, American Institute of Architects (FAIA), 1993.

Diploma, Westfield Senior High school, Westfield, NJ, 1964; B.A., with Honors in Art, Williams College, Williamstown, MA, 1968; M.Arch., Yale University, New Haven, CT, 1972.

Born in Brooklyn just after World War II, Phelps lived in two suburbs as a child, Highland Park, IL, the site of many of Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie Houses, and Westfield, NJ, an affluent New York suburb with a particularly successful historic preservation program in its downtown.

His father was Julian Orville Phelps, born in Milton, VT, his mother, Elizabeth (Willis) Faulk Phelps, born in Brooklyn, NY.

Phelps was fortunate that his parents settled in Highland Park, a critical city for the development of Frank Lloyd Wright's development, but after that time, he carefully positioned himself in places that could enrich his architectural understanding and, simultaneously, build his resume. He attended undergraduate school at Williams, known for its fine programs in art and art history; during this time, it became a key undergraduate feeder school to top graduate programs in art, architecture, and art and architectural history. He chose Yale for his M.Arch., renowned for its top faculty, most notably Vincent Scully, Jr., with whom Phelps worked closely. He had a European Grand Tour in 1972 and worked in the prestigious office of Sir Colin St. John Wilson and Partners; Wilson, the son of bishop, had an intensively intellectual and ethical approach to architecture, a sincerity and sobriety of thought that gained him many connections in the British art world and throughout the international architectural community. Phelps then settled in Houston and then Los Angeles, where he worked with celebrated architectural educator, Charles Moore, at UCLA. At the same time, he worked with the up-and-coming Santa Monica architect, Frank Gehry, who was just on the cusp of professional superstardom.

• Brooklyn, NY (Architect's Birth)
  Brooklyn, NY

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