Los Angeles-based architect Frank Israel contributed substantially toward the architectural discourse of the 1980s and early 1990s, and served as a key link between the modernist generation of California architects and the work of current practitioners. The archive is comprised of about 8,000 original drawings and prints, 38 models, photographs, articles, and extensive office records and correspondence files that encompass Israel's design process while also providing insight into the establishment of firms and modern architectural business practice.

Franklin D. Israel was born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 2, 1945. He received his architectural training at Yale University and at Columbia University, where he earned his master's degree in 1971. Two years later, Israel was awarded the Rome Prize. His two year stay in Rome proved extremely important not only because of his studies of the Italian and Northern European Baroque, but also because of his introduction to the work of the Italian architect Carlo Scarpa (1906-1978) and his encounters with American practitioners, such as Richard Meier, and architectural historians such as James Ackerman. Israel moved to Los Angeles in 1977 to teach architecture at UCLA and start his own architectural design office. He was soon employed in the film industry, working as a set designer for several movies including Star Trek: The Motion Picture. This time spent in the film studios enabled him to secure a number of early projects from clients in the entertainment industry, including actor Joel Grey and film director Robert Altman, for whom he designed houses. He also designed office buildings for film and record production companies in Hollywood.

557.6 linear feet (357 boxes, 405 flatfiles, 23 boxed rolls)

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Open for use by qualified researchers, with the exception of the unreformatted audio-visual material, computer files and the architectural drawings. Due to privacy issues, Boxes 231A-231D and 325-328 are sealed until 2062.