William L. Pereira

William Leonard Pereira (25 April 1909 to 13 November 1985) was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois, noted for futuristic designs of landmark buildings such as the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco. He worked out of Los Angeles and was known for his love of science fiction and expensive cars, but chiefly for an architecture that helped define the look of the mid twentieth century United States. The Los Angeles Conservancy adds that he graduated from the University of Illinois School of Architecture in 1931, moved to Los Angeles in 1938, shared an Academy Award for special effects, taught at the University of Southern California, and appeared on the cover of Time magazine in 1963.