2024-12-22T00:36:16-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/150011171/william-krisel-pioneer-of-mass-produced-mid-century-modernist-housing-dies-at-92 Joanna Kloppenburg 2017-06-06T18:49:00-04:00 >2023-08-29T12:35:02-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/3s/3sze4k900qyylunf.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>Esteemed mid-century modern architect William Krisel, known for his use of the butterfly roof, died in Beverly Hills on Monday at the age of 92.</p><p>Working largely in Southern California, Krisel designed over 30,000 homes in the region. Some of the architect&rsquo;s most influential work was built in Palm Springs, California, a desert haven for modern architectural experimentation in the &lsquo;50s and &lsquo;60s. Krisel is best known for pioneering the modernist tract house, a response to the rise of post-war suburban developments. Employing brightly colored and patterned facades with a variety of asymmetrical roof forms, Krisel delivered modernist design principles on a mass-scale.</p><p><img title="" alt="" src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/650x/v8/v8dmsl4l019oks0n.jpg"><br><em>Photo by Darren Bradley/Courtesy of Darren Bradley.</em></p><p>&ldquo;The concept for offering the builder various roof lines &mdash; flat, gables, inverted butterfly or whatever &mdash; is something that he sort of brought to the table so that they could essentially have very similar floor plans but have homes that looked quite different,&rdquo; said Chris Men...</p>