Background
Donald B. Parkinson was born in 1895 in Los Angeles, California, United States.
(The building was designed by noted architects Gordon Kauf...)
The building was designed by noted architects Gordon Kaufmann, John and Donald Parkinson. While the overall architectural style of the building is usually described as Spanish Colonial Revival the corner clock tower has been interpreted as English-Norman style architecture
Donald B. Parkinson was born in 1895 in Los Angeles, California, United States.
He entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he studied both engineering and architecture.
In 1920 he began practice under the firm name of John Parkinson and Donald B. Parkinson, and continued under
the same name and in the same office in the Title Insurance Building after the senior architect's decease in 1935.
During that period he was co-designer of many of the largest modern structures in Los Angeles, among them the new City Hall (in association with John C. Austin and Albert C. Martin); Coliseum in Exposition Park; Bullock's Wilshire Store and the Broadway Hollywood Department Store; Banks- Huntley Building, So. Spring Street; Federal Reserve Bank Building; the Southern California Telephone Company Building on So. Olive; and six buildings at the University of Southern California. The firm also designed buildings for the First National Bank in Beverly Hills, Santa Barbara and Long Beach; and several buildings in Santa Barbara, including the Elks Club and the Security National Bank.
Independently Mr. Parkinson planned buildings for the Lockheed Aircraft Corp. and the Lockheed Air Center, and during his practice received five Honor Awards and two certificates of Merit for his executed designs. He served in World War I as a Lieutenant, and a member of the Army Engineers' Corp in the second World War, promoted to the rank of Major in 1943.