Carl Maston; Architect’s Works Dot the Southland Landscape

Carl Maston, an architect whose homes, shopping centers, military housing units and university buildings dot the Southern California landscape, has died.

A graduate of USC, which honored him as a distinguished alumnus in 1989, Maston was 77 when he died of cancer at home in Hollywood on Sunday.

Winner of several design awards, Maston achieved his first with his residence, the Maston (or Marmont) House, a late-Craftsman-style home he built after being discharged from the Marine Corps after World War II. He became better known for his stark, no-frills modern buildings, such as an ice rink (since torn down) in Tarzana, which he fashioned out of precast concrete in the form of a tortoise’s shell.

Other buildings he designed--which have been included in several anthologies devoted to outstanding Southland architecture--include the Chiat House in South Pasadena, the School of Environmental Design at Cal Poly Pomona and the Creative Arts Building at Cal State San Bernardino.

He also helped create the Los Angeles Community Design Center and served on several city agencies, including the Los Angeles Planning Commission.

Survivors include his wife, Edith, a daughter, Laura, and two grandchildren.