The Postwar L.A. of Gin Wong

Chinese American architect Gin D. Wong, FAIA (1922-2017) defined what it means to achieve the American dream. He immigrated from China as a boy and went on to have a 60-year career as a successful architect in Los Angeles. He played a key role in the design of post-World War II L.A., with projects including LAX, CBS Television City, and the iconic Union 76 gas station in Beverly Hills. In this episode, new alum Nirali Sheth discusses her thesis, A Silent Legacy: The Influence of Gin D. Wong’s Work on the Los Angeles Built Environment. She talks with co-host Cindy Olnick about Wong’s life and work, how credit can elude architects in big corporate firms, and how she researched her subject without access to his archive.

Transcript

Nirali Sheth celebrating Gin Wong's Union 76 gas station. Photo by Danielle Armstrong.
Gin D. Wong, FAIA, longtime USC Trustee. Photo from USC Digital Libraries.
Gin Wong as a bombardier in World War II. Photo from "My Father Gin Wong," Janna Wong Healy, https://gombenn.org/my-father-gin-wong/
Gin Wong at USC, Image from El Rodeo yearbook, 1950.
Gin Wong and family (from left) Terrina, Gin, Janna, and Louise (pregnant with Kimberlee), 1950. Image from "My Father Gin Wong," Janna Wong Healy, https://gombenn.org/my-father-gin-wong/
CBS Television City, 1952. Photo by Dick Whittington from USC Digital Libraries.
Gin Wong, 1958. Photo from "My Father Gin Wong," Janna Wong Healy, https://gombenn.org/my-father-gin-wong/
Union Oil Center, circa 1958. Maynard L. Parker, photographer. Courtesy of The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Union 76 gas station, Beverly Hills, 2022. Photo by Danielle Armstrong.
Union 76 gas station, Beverly Hills, designed by Gin Wong. Photo by Danielle Armstrong.
Save As Co-Host Cindy Olnick interviewing Nirali in front of Union 76 station designed by Gin Wong in Beverly Hills. Photo by Danielle Armstrong.

Nirali Sheth earned her Master of Heritage Conservation degree in 2022 from the University of Southern California. She is interested in saving the recent past and working with archives as a means for conservation. She worked as assistant archivist for L.A. As Subject, a part of the USC Digital Libraries. She has an undergraduate degree in architecture and practiced as an architect for four years prior to grad school. In her free time, she loves taking photos or critiquing a new anime.

https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.usc.edu/dist/9/583/files/2020/10/cindy-hugcircle.png — Cindy Olnick

Podcast co-host Cindy Olnick recently interviewed Nirali about her thesis and visited the Union 76 gas station in Beverly Hills that Wong designed. Cindy is a communications pro who loves L.A. and thinks historic places are magical.