Robert Stacy-Judd
Encyclopedia
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and author who designed theaters, hotels, and other commercial buildings in the Mayan Revival architecture Style in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Stacy-Judd's synthesis of the style used Maya architecture
Maya architecture
A unique and spectacular style, Maya architecture spans several thousands of years. Often the most dramatic and easily recognizable as Maya are the stepped pyramids from the Terminal Pre-classic period and beyond. Being based on the general Mesoamerican architectural traditions these pyramids...
, Aztec architecture
Aztec architecture
Aztec architecture is related to that of older Mesoamerican architecture and sometimes thought of as one of them, usually Maya. Their houses and religious structures were unique, however. Aztec cities often competed to construct the greatest temples in the Aztec empire...
, and Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
precedents as his influences.
Aztec Hotel
Stacy-Judd's most celebrated Mayan Revival designed building is the Aztec HotelAztec Hotel
The Aztec Hotel is a historical landmark building in Monrovia, in the San Gabriel Valley, California. The Hotel is one of the outstanding examples of Mayan Revival architecture still in existence. It was designed by architect Robert Stacy-Judd, and built on the legendary original U.S. Route 66 in...
, focusing on the facades, interiors, and furniture. It was built in 1924 on the original U.S. Route 66
U.S. Route 66
U.S. Route 66 was a highway within the U.S. Highway System. One of the original U.S. highways, Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926 -- with road signs erected the following year...
, and is located in Monrovia
Monrovia, California
Monrovia is a city located in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 36,590 at the 2010 census, down from 36,929 at the 2000 census...
, Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
. Stacy-Judd explained the choice of the name of the hotel.
When the hotel project was first announced, the word Maya was unknown to the layman. The subject of Maya culture was only of archaeological importance, a, at that, concerned but a few exponents. As a word Aztec was fairly well known, I baptized the hotel with that name, although all the decorative motifs are Maya
Writing
Stacy-Judd was a friend of the writer T. A. Willard, who published a fanciful account of his travels to Chichen ItzaChichen Itza
Chichen Itza is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Municipality of Tinúm, Yucatán state, present-day Mexico....
, was extremely influenced by John Lloyd Stephens
John Lloyd Stephens
John Lloyd Stephens was an American explorer, writer, and diplomat. Stephens was a pivotal figure in the rediscovery of Maya civilization throughout Middle America and in the planning of the Panama railroad....
writings, and perhaps even more so by the illustrations by Frederick Catherwood
Frederick Catherwood
Frederick Catherwood was an English artist and architect, best remembered for his meticulously detailed drawings of the ruins of the Maya civilization. He explored Mesoamerica in the mid 19th century with writer John Lloyd Stephens...
as presented in their book 'Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatán'. a work that introduced many to the wondrous ruins of Central America. Possibly inspired by his friend T.A. Willard, Stacy-Judd published several popular books on Maya culture that blend fact and fiction.