Docomomo US MN
  • WHO WE ARE
    • Board Members
    • Contact Us
  • NEWS & EVENTS
    • News
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events >
      • 2022 Tour Day
      • Joseph Michels in Saint Anthony Park: Going Going Gone!
      • Gustafson Residence, 1956; Going Going Gone!
      • Going Going Gone! John Howe in Rochester
      • 2022 Film Screening: GOFF
      • Tapping History: Midcentury Modernism in the South Lake Minnetonka Area
      • 2021 Events >
        • Cabin Culture Tour 2021
        • Going, Going, Gone! Broadbent Residence
        • Going, Going, Gone! Boynton Cutright House
        • Going, Going, Gone! Arthur Dickey in Minnesota
        • Mount Telemark Virtual Visit
        • Mini Film Fest: MN Modern Masters
      • 2020 Events >
        • 2020 Tour Day
        • Grabow House Going, Going, Gone!
        • 2020 Film Screening
        • Lisl Close and the Legacy of Modern Design
      • 2019 Events >
        • 2019 Tour Day
      • 2018 Events
      • 2017 Events
      • 2016 Events
      • 2015 Events >
        • 2015 National Symposium
  • EXPLORE
    • Resources
    • Buildings, Sites and Designers
    • Shopping Malls
    • Travel & Leisure
    • 70s Turn 50
    • 2015 Symposium Archive
  • MN MODERN REGISTRY
  • JOIN

Lorenzo D. "Pete" Williams


Lorenzo D. "Pete" Williams was an architect based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky on September 3, 1923 and served in the U.S. Army during World War II. After the war, he attended Howard University in Washington, D.C. and earned his Bachelor’s degree in Architecture in 1950. Williams’s career began at the firm of Benjamin A. Gingold & Associates in 1959. In 1962, he departed Gingold & Associates and founded an independent firm with James O’Brien called Williams/O'Brien Associates. The Williams/O’Brien firm designed a wide variety of public and private structures across the Twin Cities area, including churches, private residences, and public housing projects. Williams’s Findley Place/Albright Townhomes project in Minneapolis was featured in the Progressive Architecture magazine in 1975 and won AIA Minnesota’s inaugural Citation Award for "provocative projects" in 1978. In 1979, the firm won an AIA Minnesota Honor award for the modest simplicity of the Functional Industries Sheltered Workshop in Cokato (approximately one hour west of Minneapolis).

During the 1960s, Williams served on the Minnesota Social Welfare Task Force, the Government Commission for the Employment of the Handicapped, and the Citizens League Low-Income Housing Committee. Williams also served as the first Black president of the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards from 1978 to 1979. Lorenzo “Pete” Williams retired from architecture in 1999 and died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease in Torrance, California on August 26, 2011. He was preceded in death by his wife, Lillian Williams, the first director of the University of Minnesota's Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action. His partner at the time of death was local civil rights activist and former University of Minnesota regent Josie R. Johnson.

Projects:
Luther T. Prince residence (3521 24th Street West, Minneapolis, 1967)
Zion Baptist Church (Minneapolis, 1968)
Holland Hi-Rise public housing project (Minneapolis, 1970)
Robert A. Diamond residence (8701 Westmoreland Lane, Saint Louis Park, 1971)
Chateau Student Housing Co-op (Minneapolis, 1973)
Findley Place/Albright Townhomes (3015 Pillsbury Avenue, Minneapolis, 1975)
Grant/Bethune Park housing project (Minneapolis)
Matthews Park housing project (Minneapolis)
Functional Industries Sheltered Workshop (Cokato, 1979)

Picture
Picture

Resources:
“Lorenzo D. Williams.” National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, no date. https://www.ncarb.org/about/history-ncarb/past-presidents/lorenzo-d-williams
“Lorenzo D. (Pete) Williams.” Star Tribune, August 31, 2011. https://www.startribune.com/obituaries/detail/13193559/
“Lorenzo Williams mixed business with artistry.” African American Registry, no date. https://aaregistry.org/story/lorenzo-williams-mixed-business-with-artistry/

Useful Links

2015 Symposium Archive
Upcoming Events
Resources
Contact Us

Sign Up for Updates

Contact Us

Docomomo US MN
850 Decatur Ave N
Golden Valley MN 55427
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Proudly powered by Weebly

Unless otherwise noted, site photographs courtesy of  Peter J. Sieger Architectural Photography 


share

© 2019 DOCOMOMO US MN | SITE BY WHIP-SMART

Docomomo US MN