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Architect and historian Alan Hess is author of twenty-one books on Modern architecture and urbanism in the twentieth century, His subjects include John Lautner, Oscar Niemeyer, Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as the Ranch House, Las Vegas, and Palm Springs. He is a Commissioner on the California State Historical Resources Commission, and serves on the boards of Preserve Orange County and Palm Springs Modernism Week. 

He has been the architecture critic of the San Jose Mercury News, a contributor to The Architects Newspaper, a grant recipient from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and the Clarence Stein Foundation, and a National Arts Journalism Fellow. 

He has helped to conserve buildings from the Modern era, including CBS Television City (Pereira & Luckman, architect), Bullock’s Pasadena (Wurdeman & Becket, architect), Norm’s La Cienega Coffee Shop (Armét and Davis, architect), and the oldest remaining McDonald’s stand (Stanley Meston, architect.) Awards for his work conserving Modern architecture include the Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Docomomo/US’sAward of Excellence, and the President’s Award from the Los Angeles Conservancy. His latest book, “Googie Modern: Architectural Drawings of Armet Davis Newlove,” is being published this month by Angel City Press. He is currently writing a history of Modern Architecture in California.

Mr. Collins is a licensed architect and a LEED Accredited Professional, and is currently a Director at Partner Energy, in charge of the Sustainability team providing design consulting, and project management for projects pursuing green certification such as LEED, GreenPoint Rated and others; Zero Net Energy, energy modeling, commissioning, and HERS verifications.  He has over twenty years of experience in architecture, urban design, and sustainable design consulting, his experience includes design, construction administration, building energy / water benchmarking and analysis, resource conservation measures, and green certification project management. Mr. Collins is also a Certified Sustainable Building Advisor, a Green Globes Professional, a Green Globes Assessor, and an ARC Performance professional. He has provided design and consulting solution for various types of buildings including institutional, office, mixed-use, retail, schools, and multifamily residential properties. Mr. Collins has led the completion of more than 50 Green certified projects including LEED Platinum and Net-Zero projects for new buildings and existing construction for Partner Energy clients.

In addition to his professional experience, Mr. Collins is the President of the Southern California Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (SoCalNOMA), on the Homefree Champions Advisory Board for the Healthy Buildings Network, a member of the AIA-LA committee on Affordable Housing, and was the founding Co-Chair of the US Green Building Council Long Beach Branch. He also lecturers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and is a design juror at the USC School of Architecture, Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), and at Cal Baptist University. He has also been an adjunct professor at Long Beach City College and has been a guest speaker at many local colleges, for professional organizations, and at national conferences teaching green building principles and sustainable design strategies. His work and writings have been featured in multiple publications including, Metropolis Magazine, Sustainable Industries, and Commercial Observer. Mr. Collins was born and raised in Seattle Washington and is a graduate of the Cornell University school of Architecture, Art, and Planning and the University of California Los Angeles School of Architecture and Urban Design. He currently resides in Long Beach, California.