Legacy

As design principal of Los Angeles-based firm AC Martin, architect David C. Martin furthered his family’s legacy of major involvement in the civic vitality of Southern California. When David joined the firm in 1966, he ushered in the third generation of the family business.

David is an award-winning designer who has been recognized for his innovative, inspirational, and cutting-edge projects. Over a 50-year career, his body of work spanned commercial facilities, academic institutions, spiritual spaces, and community buildings, many featuring engaging plazas and public art. His final project with the firm was Wilshire Grand Center, a 75-story hotel and office complex in the heart of downtown Los Angeles that incorporates all of the qualities David values in an architectural experience—inspiring, imaginative, creative, functional, has a spirit, and is both a good place to work and an exciting place to play.

In 2015, David and his wife, Mary, co-founded the Martin Architecture and Design Workshop (MADWORKSHOP), a nonprofit organization that supports students, makers, artists, and architects in the realization of socially valuable design projects. Its fellowship and education programs nurture thinkers to make visionary, sustainable, and lasting contributions to the design discourse and society at large. The foundation offers emerging designers the opportunity to freely explore their ideas from inspiration to reality.

David is a member of the Board of Councilors of the USC School of Architecture, a member of ArtCenter College of Design’s Board of Trustees, a past president of the Southern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and a former board member of AIA California and the Los Angeles Conservancy.

“The most remarkable aspect of David Martin’s career is his design mastery at vastly different scales. His curvilinear 73-story Wilshire Grand hotel and office complex is the most significant skyscraper to rise up in downtown Los Angeles for 25 years, the tallest tower west of Chicago and an iconic symbol of the city’s revival.

On the opposite end of the size spectrum is a petite yet exuberant pedestrian footbridge spanning an arroyo at the Rustic Canyon residence.

I believe that David’s fluency with wildly different architectural scales stems from his lifelong practice of drawing and painting. On paper he explores variations in line, form and color that inspire his building designs. These works also stand as sublime creative works on their own.”

-Steven Ehrlich, FAIA
Founding Partner, Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects

ISBN: 978-1-957183-58-9
Binding: Hardbound
Pages: 252pp
Publication Date: Fall 2024
Size: 12” x 12” Square
World Rights: Available