Sam Davis

Name

Davis, Sam

Personal Information

Birth/Death:    
Occupation:    American architect
Location (state):    CA

This record has not been verified for accuracy.

AIA Affiliation

Member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 1973-
Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) 1985

Biographical Sources

Biographical information:
Contributed by the Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley:
In 1964 Davis was accepted into the architecture program at UC Berkeley where he would spend the rest of his professional career. In 1967 he spent a year abroad at the University of London's Bartlett School of Architecture and returned to Berkeley for his final two years of undergraduate studies. He graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture in 1969, delivering the commencement address to his fellow graduates.
Following his undergraduate career, he attended Yale University for graduate work in architecture, earning a Masters in Environmental Design in 1971. While there, he began his professional teaching career as a design critic and instructor. He also began some commission work, working with Marc Appleton and Anthony Farmer in a design group called Projects. The trio completed a number of projects including the interior design of the Wilbar's Boutique stores of the eastern United States, the renovation of Carriage House in New Haven, and a plan for the Dauntless Marine Condominium complex in Essex, Connecticut.
Davis returned to Berkeley as an Assistant Professor of Architecture back in the fall of 1971. He quickly became a well-known teacher of architecture and design, earning Berkeley's Distinguished Teaching Award in 1974. From 1973-1975 and 1985-1989, he served on the campus' Academic Senate Committee on Teaching, and he became chair of the committee in fall 1989. Davis' teaching would earn him the 1995 Excellence in Education Award from the California Council American Institute of Architects. Ultimately, Davis' tenure at Berkeley would span 35 years and he would retire in 2006.
A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, he served as President of the AIA East Bay and on the Board of Directors of AIACC. His professional work, mostly in California, was focused on affordable housing, housing for those with special needs, and facilities for the homeless. His work on homeless facilities includes a 100-bed adult shelter for Contra-Costa County and several projects for Larkin Street Youth Services in San Francisco. Among these is the nation's first housing specifically for homeless youth with HIV and AIDS. Other work includes multi-family affordable housing in Albany, Davis, West Sacramento, and Bay Point. Professor Davis was part of design/build teams that won two competitions to replace the aging University Village in Albany for the University of California. Davis received design awards from the AIA and Progressive Architecture as well as several housing competitions. Publications include three books on housing: The Form of Housing, The Architecture of Affordable Housing, and Designing for the Homeless: Architecture that Works.
Sources: College of Environmental Design web site.

Related Records

Archival Holdings

The American Institute of Architects Archives
      Membership file may contain membership application, Fellowship nomination, related correspondence. Membership files of living persons are not available. Contact the AIA Archives at archives@aia.org for further information.

Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

Collection Number: 2006-10. Extent: 2 cartons, 1 tall box, 1 shoe box. The Sam Davis Collection is comprised of two cartons and two small boxes of material based primarily on his professional career. The bulk of the collection is made up of drawings and photographs of his many projects, most of which are private residences and public housing projects in California. Also included in the collection materials are copies of his published books and several articles, as well as a few papers from his studies at UC Berkeley and Yale. There are teaching materials, including numerous slides used for architecture courses at UC Berkeley. Design award and competition materials include those related to Davis' first place awards for University Village at Albany and the Roosevelt Island Housing Competition in New York, as well as numerous certificates and awards from various professional organizations.
Personal papers include collected student work and a portfolio from UC Berkeley and the Bartlett School of Architecture in London, as well as samples of finished projects from his graduate work at Yale. Also included are a few photographs, taken by Davis during his undergraduate years at Berkeley in the late 1960s.
The professional papers contain incoming correspondence, Davis' writings on architecture and design, and clippings reviewing Davis' professional career. Correspondence contains invitations to speak, professional advice, requests for materials or submissions, notes of appreciation, and private recruitment letters from other architecture departments. Davis' writings cover a variety of architectural topics, including public housing, product and interior design, teaching methods, and reviews of architectural books. Also included are reviews of Davis' books, his planned speaking, presentation, and conference engagements, and articles that highlight his career accomplishments.
The faculty papers document Davis' long career as a Berkeley professor. Administrative papers, course materials, student work, and merit reviews of Davis' work make up the significant series. Records document Davis' committee membership and career advancement. Course materials consist of syllabi and design problems used in teaching. Many examples of student work are collected: slides of completed student models, as well as written projects.
Office records include published material on Davis' projects and two portfolios of Davis projects – the first highlights his early work, and the second collects projects completed with his last partner Lisa Joyce. Newspaper and magazine clippings highlight his public and affordable housing work, his early work using solar and other energy efficient methods, and interior design. The first portfolio collects materials that Davis periodically organized early in his career. Many projects are represented, including some projects that are without project files. Finally, the Davis-Joyce portfolio of apartment complexes, private residences, and interior design is maintained.
The project files include files, photographs, drawings, and slides from studies, competitions, and commissions for apartment complexes, and private residences. Many of his projects are located around Berkeley and Davis, CA. Projects in this series include University Village in Albany, CA, New York's Roosevelt Island competition, the early Yerba Buena Alternative Study, and Russell Park in Davis, CA.
Link to online finding aid: http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt4g5032cb

Publications