Gin Wong – 2013 Modern Masters Award
Gin Wong, architect (active from 1950-present)
After graduating from the USC School of Architecture in 1950, Gin Wong began working for one of the country's most prestigious firms, Pereira & Luckman Associates. At Pereira & Luckman, he worked on numerous projects that have since become Los Angeles icons, including CBS Television City (1952), which was the first modern television studio built in Hollywood and revolutionized TV production; and the 1958 Union Oil Center (now home to Los Angeles Center Studios), which was the highest building in downtown Los Angeles at the time of construction.
He also served as Director of Design for the original 1952 Los Angeles International Airport design. A gas station he designed did not fit in the final plan of the airport, but it was later built in Beverly Hills. This Union 76 gas station is considered the most beautiful gas station in America, and perhaps the world.
Wong is a trustee of his alma mater, USC, and has been instrumental in its modern planning. In 1974, he founded Gin Wong Associates, and continues to design buildings all over the world. Gin Wong Associates was responsible for the seismic upgrade to the LAX Theme Building, fitting because Wong was a chief designer at Pereira & Luckman at the time of the building's construction.