Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
17
of the 19th centur y. The glass-topped
atrium is often used as a movie and TV set;
you've pr obably seen it befor e in
China-
town
and
Blade Runner.
The
Cathedral of O ur Lady of the
Angels,
completed in September 2002 at a
cost of $163 million and built to last 500
years, is one of L.A. 's newest architectural
treasures and the third-largest cathedral in
the world. I t was designed b y award-win-
ning Spanish architect Jose Rafael Moneo
and featur es a 20,000-squar e-foot plaza
with a meditation gar den, mor e than
6,000 cr ypts and niches (making it the
largest cr ypt mausoleum in the U.S.),
mission-style colonnades, biblically
The city rallied to sav e the librar y when
arson nearly destr oyed it in 1986; the tri-
umphant restoration has returned much of
its original splendor . Working in the early
1920s, ar chitect B ertram G. G oodhue
employed the E gyptian motifs and materi-
als populariz ed b y the disco very of King
Tut's tomb , and combined them with a
more modern use of concrete block to great
effect. Walking tours ar e the best way to
explore this old beauty; they're led Monday
through F riday at 12:30pm, S aturday at
11am and 2pm, and Sunday at 2pm.
Union S tation,
completed in 1939, is
one of the finest examples of California
mission-style ar chitecture and one of the
inspired gardens, and numerous artworks.
The exterior of this auster e, sand-colored
structure is rather uninspiring and unin-
viting but the interior is br eathtaking:
12,000 panes of translucent alabaster, and
larger-than-life tapestries lining the walls
create an aw e-inspiring sense of magnifi-
cence and ser enity. The 25,000-pound
bronze doors, cr eated b y sculptor R obert
Graham, pay homage to Ghiberti's bronze
baptistery door in F lorence. F ree self-
guided tours ar e av ailable, and ther e's a
small cafe and gift shop as w ell.
Built in 1928, the 27-stor y
Los Angeles
City Hall
was the tallest building in the city
for more than 30 years. The structure's dis-
tinctive ziggurat to wer was designed to
last of America's great rail stations. With its
cathedral-like size and richly paneled ticket
lobby and waiting area, it has the attention
to detail that characteriz es 1930s WPA
projects. When y ou're str olling thr ough
these grand historic halls, it 's easy to imag-
ine the glamor ous mo vie stars who once
boarded
The C ity of Los A ngeles
and
The
Super Chief
to journey back East during the
glory days of rail trav el; it 's also easy to
picture the many heartfelt reunions between
returning soldiers and loved ones following
the end of World War II, in the station 's
heyday. Movies shot here include
Bugsy, The
Way We We re,
and
Blade Runner.
Designed by renowned architect I. M.
Pei,
US B ank Tower (also kno wn as
Library Tower)
is L.A. 's most distinctiv e
skyscraper (it's the r ound one) and is the
tallest building between Chicago and Sin-
gapore. B uilt in 1989 at a cost of $450
million, the 76-stor y monolith is both
square and rectangular, rising from its 5th
Street base in a series of overlapping spirals
and cubes. The B unker H ill S teps wrap-
ping around the w est side of the building
were inspir ed b y R ome's S panish S teps.
The glass cr own at the top—illuminated
at night—is the highest building helipad
in the world.
WATTS
Watts became notorious as the
site of riots in the summer of 1965, during
2
resemble the M ausoleum at H alicarnassus,
one of the sev en wonders of the ancient
world. The building has been featur ed in
numerous films and television shows, but it
is probably best known as the headquarters
of the
Daily P lanet
in the
Superman
TV
series. When it was built, City Hall was the
sole ex ception to an or dinance outlawing
buildings taller than 150 feet. Take the ele-
vator to the rarely used 27th-floor Observa-
tion Deck—on a clear day y ou can see to
Mount Wilson 15 miles away.
The
L.A. Central Librar y
is one of
L.A.'s early ar chitectural achievements and
the third-largest library in the United States.
