American postmodern architect and educator Charles Willard Moore (1925-1993) is noted for his eclectic range of historicist buildings, each of which represents a unique response to the context of its site and culture--whether in the form of vernacular shed-roof wooden houses, Palladian-inspired stuccoed villas, or Federal-style college buildings. All are done as serious comments on current architectural theory and at the same time evoking a sense of gaiety or irony.

Charles Willard Moore was born in 1925 in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Throughout much of his grade school and high school years his parents traveled during the winter months from their home in Michigan either to Florida or California, spending several weeks in such cities as St. Petersburg and Hollywood. As a result of these extensive cross-country travels, Moore gained an inherent understanding of the American city and a rich knowledge of the history of American architecture.

Moore's university training...