Designer Also Shaped Landmarks From the Beverly Hilton to the Santa Monica Civic
Louis Naidorf, the architect who designed Hollywood’s Capitol Records Building and helped shape landmarks across California and beyond, has died at 96.
His death was confirmed on Wednesday by longtime friend Mike Harkins, the Los Angeles Times reported. Naidorf, who served as a Save the Civic advisor, remained active in preservation and restoration efforts well into his later years.
Naidorf’s interest in architecture began in childhood. By 13, he was working for a local architect, and he later studied at the University of California, Berkeley. His 1950 master’s thesis proposed circular office buildings, a concept that anticipated the Capitol Records tower he would design only a few years later.
After graduating, Naidorf joined Welton Becket and Associates, where he was soon given “Project X,” a commission for a new office building. The assignment became the Capitol Records headquarters, completed in 1956. The cylindrical tower quickly became a Hollywood landmark and was declared a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 2006.
The designer had to repeatedly debunk the claim that the building was shaped like a stack of records, noting that he meant it to be a “happy building.”
His work spanned far beyond Hollywood. Naidorf’s projects included the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, the Beverly Center, the Beverly Hilton, the Ronald Reagan State Building, and the now-demolished L.A. Memorial Sports Arena. He also led the six-year restoration of the California State Capitol in Sacramento, designed President Gerald Ford’s Rancho Mirage home, Phoenix’s Chase Tower, and the Hyatt Regency Dallas with its distinctive Reunion Tower.
Naidorf officially retired at 87 but continued to hold the state’s oldest active architecture license, renewing it annually. He is survived by his daughter, four stepchildren, 11 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.
