Updated:
February 16, 2007
rchitectural drawings (also referred to as renderings or sketches) are among several documents created by architects in the process of designing a building or other project. Different types of drawings include preliminary sketches (“schematics”) and “presentation,” “working,” and “as built” drawings. Each has a specific purpose. The drawing above is flat and one-dimensional whereas others are more three-dimensional. Today, computers are often used to create architectural drawings, but in 1929, they were created by hand using pencil, pen and ink, and watercolors; usually on thin tracing paper.
Peter J. Weber was among several trained architects and draftsmen (including Albert Haight and Randal D. Weaver) who worked for G. Stanley Wilson. This drawing, showing Author’s Row, was one of many created by Wilson’s firm for their various projects at the Mission Inn.
G. Stanley Wilson was a contractor and architect from Riverside. He left a remarkable architectural legacy in the Inland Empire of Southern California. He began working on the Mission Inn in 1909 as the superintendent for the construction of the Spanish Wing design by architect Myron Hunt. In 1923, he became a licensed architect. His work on the Mission Inn included Author’s Row (or Rooms of the Authors – 1928), the Rotunda (1930-31), the St. Francis Chapel and Atrio (1930-31), the Galeria (1930-31), and the chime tower (1944). This chime tower replaced the original, which was destroyed by fire on December 29, 1943.
In addition to the Mission Inn, Wilson’s firm was responsible for several of Riverside’s historic landmarks, including the Riverside Municipal Auditorium (a project with architect Arthur B. Benton, built as a memorial to World War I veterans), Palm Elementary School, the Weber House, and the Arlington Branch Library. He also designed many local private homes, schools, churches, post offices, libraries, and hotels. |
