Draft:George Kenneth Kaneko

George Kenneth Kaneko (April 22, 1939 – December 20, 2020) was an American architect, designer, and art consultant noted for his work

George Kenneth Kaneko
Born	April 22, 1939 Osoka Japan
Died	December 20, 2020
Nationality	Japanese, American
Notable work	Arco Art Collection, Anaconda Tower

on corporate design projects and for his keen eye in assembling modern and contemporary art collections. He worked with noted architects Jerold E. Lomax, I.M. Pei, David Gray, Robert O Anderson and commissioned work with artists Herbert Bayer, Fletcher Benton, Carlos Almaraz, Mel Ramos, and Venice artists including Peter Alexander, Charles Arnoldi, Bruce Cohen, and DeWain Valentine.

Biography

Early Life

George was the middle child born in Osaka, Japan to Midori Taniguchi and George Kazuto Kaneko who was working for Eastman Kodak. Although George’s father and siblings (older sister Mary Louise Mariko and younger brother Keith Kenji) were American citizens their mother was not allowed to join them in the United States after the start of World War II, as a result George and his family lived in Japan until after the war. George lived in the small seaside resort town of Oiso, receiving his elementary education during in the Japanese school system. Once his father’s citizenship was reestablished after World War II, the Kaneko children were allowed to attend a school for US military dependents.

George graduated from Yokohama American High School where he was active in the school community as Editor-in-Chief of the Yearbook, and lettering in baseball. After graduation George attended the University of Rochester and joined Psi Upsilon fraternity but moved to Los Angeles, CA within a year and a half to attend classes within the Department of Architecture at the University of California. He received his Bachelor of Arts, Industrial Design, from Art Center College of Design in 1965.

Career

In the 1970’s, George worked at the AC Martin Architectural Design Firm. His work caught the eye of Bauhaus former student and teacher Herbert Bayer who recruited him on projects for the next twenty years, executing designs proposals for Atlantic Richfield, and ARCO which included the company’s corporate headquarters and executive offices in Los Angeles, Denver, Dallas, Washington, D.C., New Mexico, London, and Jakarta. George was co-founder, President and Principal-in-Charge-of-Design with Kaneko/Laff Associates, a prominent international design firm which ranked 37th in size nationally according to the Interior Design magazine survey of U.S. design firms. George went on to begin his own firm, George Kaneko Design, Inc., in 1983. George subscribed to the notion that art heightens the quality of life. He drew plans by hand for most of his projects and collected art for his office and his home. He had decades of experience in programming, planning, interior design and architecture. He reveled in his collection of fine art and friends. Early in his career, George shared office space with, and was influenced by, Richard Diebenkorn.

Personal Life and Death

George Kaneko spent most of his life in Los Angeles, California where his business was based for over 40 years. During the 1970’s and 80’s his sailboat, “Bacchanal,” was at the California Yacht Club where he and his sailing crew kept active in West Coast regattas and often prevailed in local racing competitions. He was an avid fisherman, and enjoyed spending time deep sea fishing in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. He married once and had one step child. He died on December 20, 2020 of complications from throat cancer treatment.

Corporate Projects

Company	Project	Locations
Arco Government Affairs	Corporate Division Offices	Washington D.C.
Arco Center for Visual Arts	Art Museum	Los Angeles, California
Arco Oil & Gas	Executive Offices	Dallas, Texas Los Angeles, California Mexico City, Mexico Jakarta, London,England
The Anaconda Company	Corporate Headquarters	Denver, Colorado
Anderson Graduate School of Management, UCLA	Library	Los Angeles, California
Atlantic Richfield	Corporate Headquarters	Los Angeles California
Bank of America	Main Banking Floor	Los Angeles, California
Innovative Artists	Corporate Headquarters	Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles County	Museum of Art	Los Angeles, California
Union Oil Company	Corporate Headquarters	El Seguno, California
Six Flags	Corporate Headquarters	Los Angeles, California
Nova Corp, Alberta	Coperate Headquarters	Calgary, Edmonton