William Wilde papers

William Wilde was born in Moghilev, Russia (Ukraine), on January 1, 1904. He came from a peasant family, and his original name was Vladimir Vladiyev. When the Russian Revolution began, he, along with other members of his family, joined it. He was in his early teens when at one point he got cut off from his comrades by the Russian Imperial Army. His only option was to escape, so he fled into Romania and then to other parts of Europe, leaving his homeland and family behind. For the next several years he wandered through Europe, receiving architectural training in various schools in Austria, Berlin and Paris. He then immigrated to the US in 1924, and became a carpenter and union activist. By 1932, he had become a registered architect in Rhode Island. He also got married. His wife Sylvia, was also from the Ukraine and immigrated to the US in 1918. She began her career as an interior designer in 1928. They lived in Rhode Island and Massachusetts and designed both businesses and private homes throughout the 1930s. Some of their works, such as the Mary Ellis house, were featured in national publications. During World War II, Wilde became an armament engineer for the General Motors Wildcat fighter plane project. Wilde and his wife moved to Tucson, Arizona in approximately 1946, in part to provide a healthier climate for Sylvia. Wilde’s earliest works in Tucson were private homes and apartments. He then turned to designing clothing stores such as The College Shops and Cele Petersons downtown. In the late fifties, he turned some of his attention to designing indoor fireplaces, as he continued building custom homes throughout southern Arizona. In the sixties Wilde took on projects such as the Space Sciences Building on the University of Arizona Campus and some of the dwellings at Kitt Peak. He also designed the Tucson Police and Fire Department buildings, the Tucson Museum of Art and Pima College. He stayed active in the community during this time, taking a stance on urban planning and urban renewal, and publicly stating his opposition to the destruction of the oldest part of the city. During his career, he worked alone and with others, and he participated in various civic and professional associations. He also wrote and taught, particularly in the 1970s. He was named a fellow in the American Institute of Architects in 1979. He remained in Tucson until 1980 before moving to Denver for the next four years. He died in 1984.