Born and raised in bustling Shanghai, William Krisel and his parents moved to California in 1937. It is often noted that Krisel’s fathers interaction with architect Lilian Rice, who had designed the family’s California home, was to thank for his early interest in architecture.

After serving during World War II, Krisel graduated in 1949 and earned the architecture license the following year.

This same year he entered a partnership with Hungary-born architect Dan Saxon Palmer. Palmer, who also served during WWII as a mapmaker, draftsman, and photographer, had earned a B.A. in Architecture from New York University in 1942.