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Male, UK/US, born 1913-07-09, died 1984-12-05

Associated with the firms network

Dinwiddie and Hill, Architects; Dinwiddie, Hill, and Joseph; Hill and Kruse, Associated Architects; Hill, Albert Henry, Architect; Mendelsohn, Dinwiddie and Hill, Architects; Quinton, Code and Hill-Leeds and Barnard, Consulting Engineers


Professional History

Draftsman, John Ekin Dinwiddie, Oakland, CA, 1936-1937; Associate, John Ekin Dinwiddie, 1938; Partner, Dinwiddie and Hill, 1939-c.1940; Partner, Dinwiddie, Hill, and [Phillip Emile] Joseph, c.1940-1942; Partner, [Erich] Mendelsohn, Dinwiddie, and Hill, San Francisco, CA, 1945-1947, Principal, Albert Henry Hill, Architect, 1947-1970; Associate, Hill and [Jack] Kruse, Architects, San Francisco, CA, 1970-1985. More than most of his contemporaries working in the Bay Area, Hill had a profound interest in the quality of lighting within his residences, going to unusual lengths to obtain desired "theatrical" effects. He was found of using patterned screens over light bulbs and used colored glass to tint interior light. In his frequent use of colored glass, Hill paralleled the Seattle practitioner Paul Hayden Kirk (1914-1995). Hill also was not afraid to use bold colors for interior walls, something not shared by such contemporaries as William W. Wurster (1895-1973).

Hill was a registered architect in California; he joined the East Bay Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1953.

Education

Coursework, University of London, London, England, six months in 1932; A.B., University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 1936; M.Arch., Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 1938; at Harvard, Hill worked with the former Bauhaus Director, Walter Gropius (1883-1969), who came to the university in 1937, recruited by the newly installed Dean of the Graduate School of Design, Joseph F. Hudnut (1884-1968).

Personal

Born in England, Hill grew up near the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley, CA. Hill died in Monterey County, CA.

Hill was born in England to American parents; his mother's maiden name was Jeffress.

Albert Hill enjoyed gardening and made provision for garden spaces in his designs. Like most CA architects of the mid-century, he worked very hard to unify interior and exterior living spaces. The biographical entry in the Art Index for Hill erroneously reads "Hill,-Albert-Henry,-1913-1985." SSN: 557-07-8083.



Associated Locations

  • San Francisco, CA (Architect's Office)
    555 Clay Street
    San Francisco, CA 94111-3029

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    Office address in 1962;

PCAD id: 382