PASSINGS / Bernard Zimmerman

Bernard Zimmerman, 79, an architect who helped found the architecture department at Cal Poly Pomona’s School of Environmental Design and taught there for more than 30 years, died June 4 at his Los Angeles home after a long illness, the school announced.

A mentor to local architects and students, Zimmerman organized many seminars and group exhibitions of their work over the last four decades. Among the most successful events he helped organize were “New Blood 101” at the Pacific Design Center in 1998, showcasing 101 emerging Southern California architects, and “9 in 99,” a 1999 conference for architects held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.

Zimmerman also helped create the Masters of Architecture lecture series in 1991, an annual event that is held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

In 2001 he co-founded the Los Angeles Institute of Architecture and Design, a private architecture school offering college-level courses. He also helped launch the Architecture + Design Museum, now located opposite LACMA.

Born April 22, 1930, in Cleveland, Zimmerman received a bachelor’s degree in architecture from UC Berkeley in 1953 and a master’s in architecture and city and regional planning from USC in 1955.

Zimmerman, who practiced as an architect for more than 40 years, was honored with a lifetime achievement award from the American Institute of Architects in 1999.

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