OBITUARIES

Michael Black

Michael Allan Black, a Sonoma County architect and planner who was considered one of America's foremost authorities on co-housing, has died. He was 70.

Black died Wednesday in Santa Rosa of a heart attack, said his wife, Alexandra Hart.

"His strong belief was that community is one of the things that bonds people," Hart said. "And that it creates a humane and sustainable existence."

Black was best known locally for two projects he designed: Two Acre Wood in Sebastopol and Yulupa Co-Housing in Santa Rosa, where he had been living since 2005 with his wife.

Co-housing is a planned neighborhood of private homes that share common areas such as parking. Residents often eat meals together and generally interact more than in traditional neighborhoods.

"He was very passionate about it," said longtime friend and Sebastopol City Councilman Larry Robinson. "His passion was infectious."

As a Sebastopol resident, he served on the planning commission from 1988 to 1992 and was heavily involved in the downtown redesign and creation of the current plaza. He was a board member of the Western Sonoma County Rural Alliance.

He designed the Discovery Center in Santa Rosa and Copperfield's Books in Sebastopol and Santa Rosa.

"He had a passion for social justice and a wide range of interests, from spiritual to environmental to political and psychological," Robinson said. "And a very kind heart. He was generous with his love."

Before moving north from his native Southern California in the mid-1980s, Black designed numerous buildings, including several banks and private homes, his wife said.

In 1970 in the town of Yucca Valley, he designed the Pomona First Federal Savings and Loan to look "new and modern in 50 years," his wife said.

"And it will," she said.

He also designed the Ednah Root residence in Palm Springs.

Last year he was recognized by a national architectural association as a "midcentury modern architect" of note, she said. In his more recent work, he designed Sebastopol's Sequoia Village affordable-housing project and had a project in Texas.

It was on a trip to Texas around December that he suffered a previous heart attack and received a stent. He was doing fine until Wednesday, when he had a heart attack while sitting in his parked car in front of the post office, his wife said.

"He was feeling optimistic and vital and happy," Robinson said.

Black was born June 28, 1937, in Los Angeles, the son of a printer. He earned a degree in architecture at USC and taught design at Southern California Institute of Architecture.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by a daughter, Karina Black of Boulder, Colo.; a son, Adam Black of Santa Barbara; a sister, Carla Black of Marina Del Rey; and four stepchildren, Hobart, Lucas and Natalia Jacopetti and Drake Lancaster.

A celebration of his life will take place from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday at Yulupa Co-Housing, 1346 Yulupa Ave., Santa Rosa.

--Paul Payne