Members' 25-Year Reminiscences

Jerry L. Pollak, AICP

Jerry L. Pollak AIA, AICP Architects
Van Nuys, California

I am pleased to be a charter member of APA. I have been an architect and urban designer for over 43 years. I have provided professional services as an architect and urban designer throughout the United States. I have been licensed as an architect in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada, and California.

I studied architecture and urban planning at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago under Mies van der Rohe and Ludwig Hilberseimer (Bauhaus, Germany). In 1956, upon graduation, I learned that I had won first place honor in a planning competition sponsored by the Chicago Regional Chapter of the American Institute of Planners.

My family came to California in 1956, where I have practiced urban planning and architecture to this day. I worked for Victor Gruen & Associates for 12 years (1958-1970) on various urban planning, new towns, subdivisions, and redevelopment, as well as shopping centers and architectural projects.

I became a charter member of the American Institute of Certified Planners in October 1978. I became a charter member of the American Planning Association on October 1, 1978. I have received presidential citations, and many certificates of appreciation from the American Institute of Architects.

In January 2000, I received a Certificate of Appreciation and Recognition for over 30 years of service to the American Institute of Architects by the California State Assembly and City Council of Los Angeles.

In 1972, my firm, Pollak, Barsochinni & Assoc., received an Award of Merit from the California Chapter of the American Institute of Planners (now APA) for the preparation of the "El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historical Park" comprehensive development plan. In 1979, my firm, Jerry L. Pollak AIA, AICP Architects, received an award from APA as a consultant to Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Architects for the Hollywood, California Revitalization Program.

Currently, I am leading a group of volunteers (architects, planners, engineers, and other multi-disciplinary professionals) in the creation of an urban center — Panorama City, California, Commercial Area Concept Plan. Panorama City is a section of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. In January 2004, the California Council of the American Institute of Architects awarded the local AIA, SFV chapter of architects for the Urban Design Assistance Team work on the Panorama City Commercial Area Concept Plan. The implementation phase is now ongoing.