Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
15
set, and Angelenos have always seen it that
way. All of Los Angeles has an air of H ol-
lywood surr eality (or disposability), ev en
in its architecture. The whole city seems a
bit larger than life. As a r esult, L.A. is a
veritable Disneyland of architecture and is
home to an amalgam of distinctiv e styles,
from Art Deco to Spanish Revival, to cof-
fee-shop kitsch, to suburban ranch, to
postmodern—and much more.
Between 1945 and 1966,
Arts & A rchi-
tecture
magazine focused the design world 's
attention on L.A. with its series of “Case
and streets of Venice, be sure to check out
the
Chiat/Day
offices at 340 M ain S t.
What would other wise be an unspectacu-
lar contemporar y office building is made
fantastic by a
three-story pair of binocu-
lars
that frames the entrance. The sculp-
ture is modeled after a design cr eated b y
Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen.
The spacey
Jetsons-
style
Theme Build-
ing,
which has always loomed o ver Los
Angeles I nternational Airpor t, has been
joined b y a mor e r ecent silhouette. The
main L AX
control to wer,
designed b y
local ar chitect Kate D iamond to ev oke a
stylized palm tr ee, is tailor ed to pr esent
Southern California in its best light. You
can go inside to enjo y the vie w from the
Theme B uilding's obser vation deck, or
have a space-age cocktail at the Techni-
color bachelor pad that is the
Encounter
at LAX
restaurant.
Constructed on a br oad cliff with a
steep face, the
Wayfarers Chapel
in Ran-
cho P alos Verdes enjo ys a fantastic spot
overlooking the waves of the Pacific. It was
designed b y Llo yd Wright, son of cele-
brated ar chitect F rank Llo yd Wright.
Known locally as the “glass church,” Way-
farers is a memorial to E manuel Sweden-
borg, an 18th-century Swedish philosopher
who claimed to have visions of spirits and
heavenly hosts. The church is constructed
of glass, redwood, and native stone.
Study Houses,” prototypes for postwar liv-
ing, which w ere designed b y pr ominent
émigrés like Pierre Koenig, Richard Neutra,
and E ero Saarinen. Los Angeles has taken
some criticism for not being a “ serious”
architectural center, but in terms of innova-
tion and style, the city gets high mar ks.
Although much of it is gone, y ou can
still find some prime examples of the
kitschy r oadside ar t that defined L.A. in
earlier days. The famous B rown Derby is
no more, but y ou can still find a neon-lit
1950s gas station/spaceship
(at the cor-
ner of Little S anta M onica B lvd. and
Crescent Dr. in Beverly Hills), in addition
to some ne wer structures carr ying on the
tradition, such as the
Chiat/Day offices
in Venice (see below).
SANTA MONIC A & THE BEA CHES
When y ou're str olling the historic canals
2
not guilty of the murders of
Nicole Brown Simpson and
Ron Goldman.
•
1997
The J. Paul Getty Cen-
ter opens on a Brentwood
hilltop overlooking L.A.
•
1998
El Niño
conditions over
the Pacific bring torrential
rain, flooding, and landslides
to Southern California.
•
2000
The country's largest
police scandal erupts in L.A.,
with dozens of Rampart Divi-
sion officers incriminated in
illegal activity.
•
2005
Antonio Villaraigosa is
elected mayor of Los Ange-
les—he is the first Latino
mayor since Cristobal Agui-
lar in 1872.
•
2006
The Griffith Observa-
tory reopens in November
after a $93-million, 4-year
renovation.
•
2008
A two-train collision
kills 25 people and injures
130 others after an engineer
fails to heed a traffic signal
due to text-messaging.
•
2009
Economic downturn
has Los Angeles in a financial
tailspin. Hotel sales plummet
while numerous local busi-
nesses shut down. Hopes are
pinned on President Barack
Obama's economic recovery
program.
