William Krisel, AIA, principal of the firm of Palmer & Krisel (formed with Partner Dan Palmer), was born in 1924 in Shanghai of American parents working overseas for the U.S. State Department. Krisel lived in China until age 13, when his family returned to the US, where he attended Beverly Hills High.
During World War II, Krisel was assigned to General Joe Stilwell as a Chinese interpreter. He attended USC for his degree in architecture. Krisel has also been a licensed landscape architect since 1954.
Designing more than 30,000 living units throughout Southern California, Krisel’s career spanned over 51 years. A close personal friend of developer Bob Alexander and his family, Krisel came to the Desert at the request of Alexander to design a tract of modernist houses dubbed Smoke Tree Valley (now known as Twin Palms for the pair of Palm trees that graced each of the homes).