Architectural sites that define our community

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Total voters: 1,359

Introduction

Introduction


Los Angeles is home to architecture that is wacky and wonderful, artful and edgy. Buildings bursting with post World War II exuberance nestle against mid-century modern drive-ins, Italianate libraries, avant-garde edifices and homes that could double as castles.

The most successful means to date of protecting this cultural heritage has been through Mills Act Legislation, which allows local governments to offer financial incentives to private property owners for the restoration and preservation of historic buildings. Then-Councilmember Ridley-Thomas authored the Ordinance that brought the Mills Act to Los Angeles, thereby funding millions of dollars of historic preservation and adaptive re-use investments in the City, and helping to save many landmark buildings. The City of Los Angeles adopted the program in 1996 and since then, hundreds of properties have benefited. The County, however, has had no such ordinance on its books – a step the Board of Supervisors may soon remedy.

On February 14th the Board of Supervisors approved a motion sponsored by Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Michael D. Antonovich, directing the Regional Planning Department to develop historic preservation strategies for the unincorporated areas of the County. The department will deliver its findings to the Board this summer, and the supervisors will be poised to take a critical step toward safeguarding the county’s rich design heritage.

In honor of the occasion, we compiled 10 of our favorite architectural sites, and we invite you to upload photos and share your favorites with us as well. Ours are in the Second District, but we welcome contributions from all over the county. Some of our picks strain the definition of “architecture” — they are not buildings. We included them, however, because this preservation effort isn’t just about bricks and mortar. It’s about the inspiring symbols of human creativity, perseverance and skill, ranging from the high art of the Clark Library to the folk genius of the Watts Towers. Our goal is to raise awareness about the features that make our communities recognizable, livable and beautiful.

Click on the audio link below each image to hear Dan Rosenfeld, a noted developer and the Second District’s senior deputy for economic development, discuss the picks on our list. You can click directly on the audio link to add your observations or leave a longer post in the comments section.

We’ll be featuring a new site, with accompanying audio, every month for the rest of the year and posting your submissions in a gallery.

Enjoy!

Audio overview by Dan Rosenfeld

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Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum

1. Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum

The Rancho San Pedro


Photo: Corrected photo courtesy of Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum

California can almost trace its modern history — as a territory of Spain, then Mexico, and finally as part of the United States — through the family founded by Spanish soldier Juan Jose Dominguez. The 75,000 acres of Rancho San Pedro, gifted to Dominguez in 1784 by Spain, covered most of what today is Compton and stretched to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. His heir and nephew, Don Manuel, built this lovely adobe home for his bride in 1826. Situated on a hilltop in what is now Rancho Dominguez, this “Mission” or “Spanish Colonial” look became the signature style of Southern California and has influenced the design of countless homes and public structures. Its genius lies in the artful use of simple, locally made materials such as fired mud bricks, whitewashed stucco, and curved clay roof tiles. Moreover, the style is sustainable, providing excellent insulation and naturally cool or warm spaces as the seasons change. Don Manuel Dominguez lived California’s metamorphosis, holding positions under both Mexican and U.S. governments: he served as (Alcade) Mayor of Los Angeles, a judge, and Los Angeles County Supervisor. He also was one of 47 delegates to sign the new state’s constitution. One hundred and eighty-six years later, Don Manuel’s home is a museum. Its grounds are often used for parties, weddings, and other celebrations that entwine both the Dominguez family and California’s historic past with the lives of residents today.

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The Clark Library

2. The Clark Library


Photo: Adam Janeiro

The opulent rooms of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library are a bibliophile’s dream. Home to one of the most comprehensive rare book and manuscript collections in the United States, the Italian Renaissance building was designed by Robert Farquhar (who also designed Beverly Hills High School) and built in 1924 to house the personal collection of philanthropist William Andrews Clark, Jr. The library was named to honor Clark’s father, a Montana copper baron and U.S. Senator. Special touches reflect the family’s history: bookcases in the reading rooms, for example, are made of copper. With a particular focus on 17th and 18th Century English literature, the collection includes works by or about luminaries such as John Milton, Henry Fielding and Jonathan Swift. The Clark is also home to the world’s most extensive collections of works by or about Oscar Wilde. The library hosts poetry readings, concerts, lectures and special events in its drawing room, where murals depicting scenes from All For Love, English poet John Dryden’s retelling of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, grace the walls.

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Dunbar Hotel

3. Dunbar Hotel


Photo: Wikipedia

When the Dunbar Hotel, opened in 1928, it was the center of African-American culture in Los Angeles. Originally called the Hotel Somerville, it was built entirely by black contractors, laborers and craftsmen, and financed by black Angelenos. It was the only hotel in Los Angeles that welcomed black guests and as such, hosted many of the era’s legendary entertainers, politicians and civic leaders. Stars of the Jazz age, such as Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, stayed there and then played next door at the famed Club Alabam. The hotel was renamed the Dunbar in 1929, in honor of legendary poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, and was designated a historic-cultural landmark in 1974. It is currently under renovation by local developer Tom Safran. Upon completion, the new building will provide affordable housing for senior citizens.

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Exposition Park Rose Garden

4. Exposition Park Rose Garden


Photo: Wikipedia

Home to 200 varieties of roses and 20,000 bushes, the seven acres of the sunken rose garden in Exposition Park are a serene and exquisite oasis in Los Angeles’ urban core. Its beauty makes it a popular backdrop for summer weddings, and no hint lingers of its earthier turn-of-the-century past when gamblers gathered to bet on dog, camel and horse races. Why is a garden on our list? In Southern California our outdoor spaces — patios, decks, balconies and even rusty old fire escapes just large enough for a grill — are extensions of our homes. Just as a superbly designed building is the imaginative but practical organization and use of space, so too is a well-planned, and in this case, beautiful, fragrant, and blooming outdoor rose garden.

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Angelus Funeral Home

5. Angelus Funeral Home


Photo: Martin Zamora

The Angelus Funeral Home, designed by noted African-American architect Paul R. Williams, incorporates neo-classical and Art Deco elements often seen in Williams’ work. Williams’ talent was evident early on; he designed buildings while still a student at the University of Southern California School of Engineering and opened his own architecture office at age 25. He designed more than 2,000 homes in Los Angeles, but is perhaps most noted for the swank residences he created for Hollywood stars, including Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Lon Chaney and Frank Sinatra. Among his public projects are the Beverly Hills Hotel, Hollywood YMCA and Los Angeles County Courthouse. Founded in 1923, Angelus Funeral Home was the first black-owned business incorporated in California. The name refers to the Christian devotion, taken from the Latin, Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ, meaning “The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.”

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The Watts Towers

6. The Watts Towers


Photo: Thinkstock.com

“Why I build it? I can’t tell you. Why a man make the pants? Why a man make the shoes?”
– Sculptor Simon Rodia

Was he genius? A madman? A little of both? (Sabato) Simon Rodia, who was born in 1879 in Italy and who emigrated to the United States at age 15, always refused to explain his labor of love. Built over the span of 33 years, the Watts towers are actually 17 dazzling structures composed of steel piles and rods wrapped with wire mesh, coated with mortar are inlaid with broken glass, sea shells, and tile collected by Rodia and neighborhood children. Almost as soon as they began to take shape, however, the towers became controversial. Vandals targeted them relentlessly, and in the 1960s, the City of Los Angeles attempted to have them torn down. Today they are widely recognized as masterpieces of ingenuity and engineering. According to a documentary about the one-time bricklayer, Rodia was in part inspired by the most famous tower in his homeland, the leaning tower of Pisa, where Galileo Galileo dropped two balls in his famous experiment on acceleration. “My God, I say, I’m going to make a tower different than Galileo,” Rodia once remarked. In the historic two-square mile neighborhood from which the towers take their name, that’s exactly what he did.

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Randy’s & Dale’s Donuts

7. Randy’s & Dale’s Donuts


Randy’s Photo: Thomas Hawk (thomashawk.com) Dale’s Photo: Phil Pasquini

Los Angeles loves donuts: hot Krispy Kremes, towering strawberry donuts, beignets, gut-busting maple-bacon donuts, Danish aebelskiver (apple fritters), and even newfangled red velvet concoctions. Best donut lists and contests are eternal internet favorites, and there is even L.A. art commemorating the donut experience, such as Jennifer Rubell’s donut wall at LACMA. Greater Los Angeles is arguably the donut capital of the world. Although aficionados debate which ones are best, few deny that the region’s most iconic donuts are the towering rings above Randy’s and Dale’s donut shops. Built in 1952 and designed by Henry J. Goodwin, Randy’s Donuts was a part of the BigDoNut drive-through chain and is an example of semaphore architecture, in which buildings visually signal their purpose. For decades, these landmarks have grabbed motorists’ attention in our fast-moving automobile culture, and Randy’s has been featured in movies including Earth Girls Are Easy, Coming to America and Iron Man 2.

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Pann’s Restaurant & Coffee Shop

8. Pann’s Restaurant & Coffee Shop


Photo: Pann’s Catering website (www.pannscatering.com)

It’s 1958: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration launches Explorer 1 and the space race is on. Drive-in movies are in their heyday, and a group soon to be known as the Beatles has its first recording session. Ed Sullivan and Elvis are in, and the average cost of a house is $12,750. That same year, Greek immigrants George and Rena Panagopoulos open Pann’s Restaurant and Coffee Shop in Inglewood. Some love Pann’s for the food and others the hospitality, but it’s the restaurant’s optimistic architecture that lands it on our list. Googie architecture – the name comes from a now defunct coffee shop in West Hollywood – was popular from the late 1940s to the mid 1960s, when futuristic motifs were the rage. Pann’s was designed by architects Eldon Davis and Helen Liu Fong, and, more than 50 years later, the large windows and tropical landscaping give the site a classic coffee shop look and feel. The restaurant continues to attract a devoted following and has also been featured in hit films such as Pulp Fiction.

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Marilyn Jorgenson Reece Memorial Interchange

9. Marilyn Jorgenson Reece Memorial Interchange


Photo: Google Maps

The flowing sweep of the freeway interchange between Highways 10 and 405 in West Los Angeles is an architectural triumph. One of the largest man-made structures in the region, it is also one of the most elegant — a true work of art. Practical, simple and highly sophisticated in its design, like much of the architecture that we use in our daily lives it often goes unnoticed. What further distinguishes this immense structure is that its designer, Marilyn Jorgenson Reece, was the first woman to break the gender barrier in highway design. Including this representative from the road system in our list of heritage highlights seems natural to us. Not only does it underscore the importance of the freeway system in fostering Los Angeles’ rapid growth and suburbanization after the Second World War, it also pays homage to the fundamental importance of mobility in our unique urban character… and let’s face it, we live on freeways.

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Dr. Theodore T. Alexander, Jr. Science Center School

10. Dr. Theodore T. Alexander, Jr. Science Center School


Photo: Gary Leonard

Can anyone just walk by a Thom Mayne building without stopping to stare and wonder? The Pritzker Prize-winning architect is respected as one of the world’s most aggressively original designers, and the Dr. Theodore Alexander, Jr. Science Center School illustrates why. Built in 2004, a steel-framed lattice addition is attached to the original 1926 cast concrete and brick armory structure. The two story, steel-framed addition contains 20 classrooms, and the main floor supports an 8,400 square-foot garden on its top deck. If you ever pass the intersection of Exposition Park Boulevard and Figueroa Street, you will see Mayne’s linear structure of gridded lattices, bridges and stair extensions pushing upward toward the intersection. The building challenges the eye the way science challenges the mind, inviting students indoors and observers outside to go forth into unexplored territory, always asking: Why? How? What next?

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Village Green

11. Village Green

Village Green


Photo: Floyd B. Bariscale

Sir Thomas More published the book Utopia in 1516 and simultaneously gave birth to the enduring quest for the perfect place to dwell. Yes, that’s an exaggeration. The concept of the ideal city far predates More. In antiquity, mighty capitals often were constructed to align with the stars: Machu Picchu, ancient Persepolis and Peru’s Cuzco. So how does Village Green fit into this grand lineage? It too, has utopian aspirations. When construction began in 1941, the former Baldwin Hills Village was one of the most ambitious urban planning projects of its day. The goal was to do the remarkable: balance the tensions between nature and development, privacy and community, individuality and interconnected living. Today. the gardens, parks and courtyards of the condominium complex provide an oasis of greenery and calm in the heart of L.A.’s metropolis, and in contrast to architecture that clamors for notice, the buildings of Village Green almost slide off the eye. Even better, the design minimizes visual evidence of cars — it’s as if the architects knew Angelenos would one day grow to depend on (and therefore to resent) automobiles. Critic Lewis Mumford once said of the neighborhood, “Here every part of the design speaks the same robust vernacular: simple, direct, intelligible.” We couldn’t have said it better.

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Wilshire Boulevard Temple

12. Wilshire Boulevard Temple

Wilshire Boulevard Temple


Photo: Lazlo Regos courtesy of Wilshire Boulevard Temple

Hirsz, Aaron, Szmul and Itzhak Wonskolaser – better known in Hollywood as Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner, or simply, the Warner Brothers, catapulted the film world out of the silent movie era into the talkies with The Jazz Singer. One of the Warners’ lasting gifts to Los Angeles, however, is not on film, but on the walls of the grand and graceful Wilshire Boulevard Temple. The Temple, erected in 1929, is masterpiece inside and out. This photograph shows the building as it is most familiar to passersby, with its beautiful Byzantine dome. Inside is another artistic glory. Commissioned by Warner Bros. studio head Jack Warner and painted by artist Hugo Ballins, murals depicting the journey of Jewish people from biblical times to their arrival in the United States, ring the sanctuary. Such depictions, even in a reform temple, were rare at the time, due to a strict interpretation of the Second Commandment’s prohibition against graven idols. Currently, the building, including the murals, is under renovation with an expected completion date some time next year. After that, the Warner Memorial Murals, 320-foot long and 7-foot tall, will once again be on view — a spiritual silent movie telling the story of a people.

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USC’s Widney House

13. USC’s Widney Alumni House

USC’s Widney Alumni House - Photo: Philip Channing courtesy of US


Photo: Floyd B. Bariscale

USC Widney House by Dan Rosenfeld

The 20 years between 1860 and 1880 were transformative for Los Angeles.  The city’s Wild West character was rapidly evolving – civilizing, if you will. The population swelled from 4,400 to 11,000 people; L.A. was connected to San Francisco by railroad in 1876, and four years later the University of Southern California was founded. Stately Widney Hall, now Widney Alumni House, was the newborn institution’s only building, accommodating 53 students and 10 faculty members. For many Angelinos (except maybe Bruins fans) the building is almost as iconic as Tommy Trojan, and over the decades, it has been remodeled, renovated and even relocated several times. Today USC enrolls about 37,000 students annually and has more international students than any university in the nation. Nonetheless, the school also has fostered vigorous community partnerships and programs that support and engage its neighborhood.  The Widney’s graceful lines and simple design are a visual testament to USC’s commitment to Los Angeles and its own past, even as its vision is now focused on the future.

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Leimert Park

14. Leimert Park

Eso Won Bookstore Murals, Leimert Park - Photo: Mohammed Al Rawi, Office of Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas


Photo: Mohammed Al Rawi

Leimert Park by Dan Rosenfeld

In the heart of the Crenshaw District sits lovely Leimert Park. Developed in the late 1920’s by real estate mogul Walter Leimert, the neighborhood was an example of cutting-edge urban planning. Walter Leimert’s other projects included Beverly Highlands in the Hollywood Hills, Sierra Park in Orange County, and Cambria Pines near Hearst Castle. Leimert Park’s quaint shopping district today is an arts Mecca — the hub of Los Angeles’ spoken word, jazz, blues, and poetry community and an important cultural center for the city’s African-American community. The entire Leimert Park neighborhood, however, spans 600 acres and was designed to be a self-contained community complete with a theater, shopping center, and town square. The residential areas are dominated by craftsman and colonial-style homes that sit on shady streets lined with giant Magnolias, Eucalyptus, Maple and Pine trees. Designed to promote pedestrian traffic, the community was laid out to take advantage of the main mode of transportation of the 1920s: the yellow trolleys of the Los Angeles streetcar system. The streetcars are long gone, but construction of the new Crenshaw-to-LAX light rail line is slated to begin next year, and once again, the train must stop in this iconic location.

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Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza

15. Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza

Crenshaw Center open Friday nights.  Retouched by Los Angeles County. March, 1949. - Photo: Loomis Dean.


Photo: Loomis Dean

Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza by Dan Rosenfeld

Built in 1947, the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza was the first open-air mall in the nation. Originally called the Broadway-Crenshaw Center, the mall was a 550,000-square-foot retail wonder. Anchored by The Broadway and May Company stores, it was also home to that fixture of the American marketplace: a Woolworth five and dime. (Woolworth had distinguished itself decades earlier by becoming one of the first American retailers to let shoppers handle wares without the help of a sales clerk. Also, its famed lunch counters, in some respects, were the precursors to the modern food court). The photograph here has been altered – a palm tree originally blocked the view of The Broadway. We thought it worthwhile, however, to capture the feel of the original mall and offer a glimpse of what would be unthinkable today:  13 acres of parking. The magic of the mall, however, was not just its size and retail offerings. It was and still is the gathering place for a community.  It was redesigned, expanded, and enclosed in the 1980s, and purchased by Capri Capital Partners of Chicago in 2006. Capri has given it a $35 million-makeover, with new shops, a new movie theater, and new restaurants — most notably, the upscale Post & Beam. With glowing reviews and an already ardent following, the new dining spot bids fair to build on the tradition established by its predecessor, the popular Golden Bird restaurant. When the new Crenshaw-to-LAX light-rail line begins service to the mall, there really will be no stopping the resurgence of this iconic city meeting place.

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Bullocks Wilshire

16. Southwestern Law School’s Bullocks Wilshire

Southwestern Law School’s Bullocks Wilshire by Dan Rosenfeld

Bullocks Wilshire Department Store opened its doors on September 26, 1929, and instantly set a new standard for opulence. Never had Los Angeles, or the rest of the country for that matter, seen a store whose stylish exterior so perfectly matched the luxurious shopping experience indoors. With its 241-foot copper-topped tower, terracotta tiles and decorative copper panels, the five-story Art Deco building was an instant L.A. landmark. The interior was equally elegant, with marble walls, travertine floors and a Herman Sachs ceiling mural that paid homage to transportation, with images of steam trains, ocean liners, planes and giant blimps. The ambience was one of restrained gentility: the store featured live mannequins, and sales clerks wrote slips by hand to minimize noise.  Strategically located three miles from downtown – far enough then to be considered suburban but close enough to wealthy Hancock Park – Bullocks catered to Hollywood. Katherine Hepburn was said to have bought her men’s trousers there –as were Cary Grant and Clark Gable. For six decades the store reigned over its stretch of Wilshire Boulevard, finally closing its doors in 1993. A year later, Southwestern Law School purchased the building and invested $29 million in a terrific restoration and renovation. It now houses a law library and other accoutrements of its academic mission. Although the building has been repurposed, we love Southwestern Law School’s Bullocks Wilshire. Los Angeles has lost irreplaceable architectural gems in past years, and it’s wonderful to see Bullocks Wilshire still thriving. No, a modern-day Mae West can’t pull up out front and have clothes brought to her car as the legendary movie star did, but 83 years after it first opened, Bullocks Wilshire is still going strong.

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Sanchez Adobe

17. Sanchez Adobe

Sanchez Adobe. - Photo: Scott Harms


Photo: Scott Harms

Sanchez Adobe by Dan Rosenfeld

Hidden in plain sight, on a tree-lined street in Baldwin Hills, is what could be the oldest building in Los Angeles: an adobe building dating from the late 1700s.  Archival materials date the Sanchez Adobe, located on Don Felipe Drive, to as early as 1791, meaning the South Los Angeles building likely surpasses the Avila Adobe on Olvera Street, the city’s acknowledged title holder, by 20 years of age.  We say “hidden in plain sight,” because it has long been known that the Sanchez Adobe, is centuries old. Recently, however, its current owners, the Consolidated Board of Realtists, spearheaded research into the adobe’s past, and a closer look at the building hinted at its record-holding status. Little about the building calls the eye in way of decoration or adornment. The Sanchez Adobe is a plain, somewhat weather-beaten structure with numerous additions and alterations. But its history is romantic as one could wish, with residence or ownership by a colorful cast of characters and organizations that truly evokes the Los Angeles’ Wild West, multi-ethnic layers of history. It has been home to Mexican dons and Anglo entrepreneurs. Once the residence of Vicente Sanchez, the adobe later belonged to Irish-American businessman Elias J. “Lucky” Baldwin. Now it belongs to an organization of African-American real estate professionals. (Incidentally, it was Paul Williams, one of L.A.’s most noted architects, who urged the Realtists to purchase the building). Freed African slaves worked there after the Civil War, as did Chinese laborers – all brought by Baldwin to the property, according to the Realtists. After Baldwin’s ownership, the adobe passed to the Catholic church for a time, and later was home to a golf course and a women’s club, when the surrounding neighborhoods were mostly Anglo. Standing inside the adobe today and looking out over Los Angeles, one can only imagine the breathtaking sweep of hills and dells, the splendid solitude and wondrous views of earlier times. Like many Angelenos, Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas had been to the Don Felipe Drive building many times but was unaware of its tremendous historic value and legacy. He recently toured the adobe with architectural preservationist Peyton Hall, of Historic Resources Group, to gain new perspectives on its hidden heritage. Hall, who wrote a report on the Avila Adobe in 1992, said he was shocked to learn of a building that likely predates that one. Many in his field, architects, historians and preservationists, have no idea the building even exists, he said, and a detailed study of the structure is the immediate next step toward establishing its place in L.A.’s architectural history.  The Supervisor agreed. Sanchez Adobe is a building at once familiar and yet unknown, he said. “To think that right here in the Baldwin Hills is perhaps the city’s oldest building, is just wonderful. There is a tremendous story to tell here, and now our task is to tell it.”

Click here to read the Los Angeles Times Editorial published September 4, 2012.

Sanchez Adobe from Mark Ridley-Thomas on Vimeo.

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Petersen Automotive Museum

18. Petersen Automotive Museum

Photo: courtesy of Petersen Automotive Museum


Photo: courtesy of Petersen Automotive Museum Petersen Museum by Dan Rosenfeld

There’s something about Los Angeles and cars. Even as public transit becomes an increasingly important and popular option for residents, there will always be something about L.A. and the role of the it’s car in its growth: the car grew with L.A., and L.A. grew with the car. Thus it is only fitting that we have the world’s most noteworthy shrine to the automobile, the Petersen Automotive Museum. Inside is a car-lover’s dream (classic cars, vintage cars, rare cars, and even television star cars: Adam West’s Batmobile is on permanent display). The outside of the Petersen, however, is what lands it on our list. The sleek, sharp fenders across the front make the whole building looks as if it could spring free of its foundation and zoom down Wilshire Boulevard. It is a fine example of  classic modernism — or perhaps, modern classicism evoking neoclassical columns.The style is less literal than the Forum, but still a terrific modern riff off the Parthenon. Architect Scott Johnson, took the idiom of Roman Classicism and with one simple gesture,  the addition of fins, repositioned the building. And how fitting that it sits in the Miracle Mile on Wilshire — a road designed at the turn of the 20th century to accommodate not the horse and foot traffic of the day, but the transportation methods of the future.  The museum was founded in 1994 by Hot Rod and Motor Trend Publisher Robert E. Petersen, and is housed in what was once  the old Ohrbach’s department store. In addition to hosting special exhibits and programs, it is a popular place for swanky receptions and — for truly hardcore automobiliphiles — weddings.

Even for those who’ve never gone inside, however, the Petersen is unforgettable. It powerfully captures the eye. Too often, repurposed and renovated buildings lose the integrity of their original structures, becoming a mishmash of times, eras, styles and egos. But here, Johnson’s slight tweak of the department store had marvelous results: it announced the building’s singular automotive purpose to all driving by, and gave Los Angeles another landmark.

 

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Loyola High School

19. Loyola High School

Photo: Courtesy of Loyola High School


Photo: Courtesy of Loyola High School Loyola High School by Dan Rosenfeld
Founded in 1865 as St. Vincent College, Loyola High School is the oldest educational institution in Southern California and possibly the oldest high school in California. Located two miles west of downtown Los Angeles, the private all-male, Catholic high school sits on 15-acres in the Harvard Heights neighborhood. Designed by Albert C. Martin, Loyola’s beautiful buildings are in a style called Collegiate Gothic — an architectural tradition more commonly found on Ivy League campuses. Yale and Princeton universities, for example, yearned to exude the ancient, slightly weather-beaten and look of, say, Oxford and Cambridge universities, and therefore were built to look old, or rather, pedigreed. At Yale, architectural Anglophilia was taken to an extreme, and newly-built stone buildings were given broken windows and reportedly were doused with acid to add a patina of ancient heritage. Loyola’s grace is not contrived, deriving its beauty from stained glass windows, slender columns, free-standing sculptures, entrances with vaulted ceilings, and gabled rooftops accented by spires, pinnacles, and finials. For more than 140 years, the school has inculcated values of stewardship and community in the young men, and the school is renown for its diversity, admitting students from more than 225 zip codes across Los Angeles County. Located in close proximity to Hollywood, Loyola has appeared in a number of films, including: Coach Carter (2005), Donnie Darko, (2001), Fat Albert, (2004), and Thank You For Smoking (2005).  A.C. Martin’s contributions to Southern California extended beyond Loyola. His firm worked on Los Angeles City Hall, the downtown Department of Water and Power building and many other local landmarks; it is still owned and managed by his direct descendents.

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The Forum

20. The Forum

Photo: Courtesy of Wikipedia.com


Photo: Courtesy of Wikipedia.com

Basketball’s most iconic arena was built in a fit of pique. In the 1960s, Jack Kent Cooke, legendary owner of the Lakers, followed through on his threat to build a stadium in Inglewood if the L.A. Coliseum Commission wouldn’t let his newly-acquired hockey team, the Kings, play there. Soon after, the Forum became the stage for some of basketball’s greatest gladiatorial showdowns. Thanks to Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, riveting play by the Showtime Lakers and a bone-deep rivalry with the Boston Celtics, the iconic Forum became recognizable from coast to coast. Of course, since it first opened its doors in 1967, the Forum has been much more than just a sports arena. Although it was also home to the WNBA Sparks, the venue has provided the backdrop to some of the world’s greatest musical acts. From the Jackson 5 to Elvis Presley, the Bee Gees to KISS and Prince to Nirvana, the Forum has been a must-stop destination on national and world concert tours. Over the years it also has been home to a mega-church, and most recently, its grounds provided space for thousands to view the Endeavour space shuttle. Inside and out it’s a classic. Ironically, the signature arches ringing the building actually evoke Rome’s famous Coliseum and not the Eternal City’s rectangular-shaped Forum (but we’re guessing Cooke was making a point). The structure is a signature product of the prolific and immensely successful office of Charles Luckman. “Chuck” Luckman began his career as a toothpaste salesman, rose quickly to the presidency of Lever Brothers, and then switched to his true passion: architecture. He lived locally in mid-century elegance, occupying a full floor atop his own Sunset Boulevard high-rise, and designing landmarks ranging from downtown’s tallest towers to the launch facilities at the Kennedy Spaceport and, of course, LAX. Ironically, one of Luckman’s most controversial projects involved the demolition of New York’s historic Penn Station to construct, yes, Madison Square Garden. And it is Madison Square Garden Company, in one of those crazy turns life sometimes takes, which currently owns and is renovating our beloved Forum.

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Coca-Cola Building

21. Coca-Cola Building

Photo: Courtesy of Carol Highsmith


Photo: Courtesy of Carol Highsmith

The flourishes and furbelows of Art Deco design and architecture with its zigzag ornamentation, sunburst motifs and uncensored chevrons were exciting and new in the mid 1920s, but by the mid-1930s, a more simplified architecture was catching on. The Los Angeles Coca-Cola bottling plant, pictured here, is a wonderful example of Streamline Moderne architecture – not a complete departure from Art Deco, rather a refinement. The plant’s clean lines unite form and function and the building beautifully displays the principle elements of the genre; it is aerodynamic and clean and nautical – complete with portholes, catwalk and a bridge. The building, located at 1334 South Central Ave. in Los Angeles, was designed in 1939 by Robert V. Derrah, a prominent architect who also designed the Crossroads of the World mall, numerous residences, movie studio buildings, and the Brown Derby restaurant. By the time the Coca Cola plant was commissioned by two brothers (who were said to be avid yachtsmen) Coke was more than 50 years old and already iconic. The original beverage, with main ingredients of kola nut and coca leaf extract, packed a wallop: an estimated nine milligrams of cocaine per glass. The cocaine was removed in 1903, and the company now uses a cocaine-free coca leaf extract made at a plant in New Jersey. Decades ago the federal government lost an effort to have the caffeine removed on the grounds that it is an addictive substance, and with 10 teaspoons of sugar per can the soda still carries a lot of kick. The building does too. Its aeronautical lines exude a sense of speed, power and luxury. It’s classic L.A., classic architecture and (you know what’s coming) Classic Coke.

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Stealth Building

22. Stealth Building

Photo: Courtesy of Eric Owen Moss Architects


Photo: Courtesy of Eric Owen Moss Architects

Is there anything like the Stealth Building? Cutting edge yet slightly retro, avant guard yet classic? And doesn’t it automatically call to mind Michelangelo’s David? That’s right, David, the 17-foot marble masterpiece completed in 1504. The similarities aren’t of design, of course, but of emotional intelligence. Think of the statue, famed not just for its symmetrical perfection, but for the palpable tension embodied by the marble. David’s muscles are taut, veins throb and his expression is focused — he is about to explode into action. At the same time, however, his posture is relaxed and confident; he has been “caught” by Michelangelo the moment before battle with Goliath – action-in-repose. Now look at the Stealth Building. Taut and tense, utterly still yet twisting, weighted down by concrete yet alive, coiling and poised for action. Brilliant. Created by world-famous architect Eric Owen Moss in 2002, the design concept grew from the exacting environmental requirements of the location, which required excavation and removal of toxic earth on the formerly industrial site. A concrete block wall was constructed to enclose the two remaining warehouses on the east, and the Stealth was constructed to the west, against the new wall. A portion of the excavated area, underneath the overhanging new structure was reshaped to form a sunken garden — six feet below the sidewalk elevation. Moss, in an interview once stated: “The aspiration was to investigate a changing exterior form and a varying interior space: to construct a building that remakes both outside and inside.” Perhaps the exercise was intellectual, but from our viewpoint the result was high art.

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Culver City’s City Hall

23. Culver City’s City Hall

Photo: Courtesy of Gonzalez Goodale Architects


Photo: Courtesy of Gonzalez Goodale Architects

This month’s architectural feature brings us to Culver City, also known as the heart of screenland, to spotlight its striking city hall. Although the building itself does not have a specific architectural style, its red-tiled roof and bright off-white walls evoke a Mediterranean flair that speaks to Southern California’s easy-going lifestyle and pleasant weather while also maintaining a connection to its history. Located on the west end of downtown, the city’s 87,900 – square-foot headquarters do more than provide a home to the municipal administration, departments and meetings. It creates a visual sense of peace and order. Dactylifera palm trees line its walkway, creating a verdant traffic pattern that gently connects visitors to the water fountain along a patio plaza, and a courtyard and abundant open space shield visitors from the noisy traffic along Culver Boulevard. It’s hard to picture Culver City without its bustling restaurants, pedestrian-friendly sidewalks, or the movie studio presence that Harry Culver, its founder, envisioned nearly a century ago. Culver, a native of Nebraska, moved to Los Angeles and became a real estate mogul. To build his vision for a rival to Hollywood, he lured movie executives such as Thomas Ince and Hal Roach to his growing suburb, convincing them to build their studios in this new patch of land. Louis B. Mayer, founder of MGM Studios, erected a massive studio a few blocks away from City Hall that reflected his newfound grandeur. The rest, as they say, is history. The city continues to be a major hub of the industry, with Sony Pictures Entertainment replacing the old MGM, dozens of sound stages and screening rooms as well as the filming location for hundreds of movies and television shows including: The Wizard of OZ, Gone with the Wind, E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial, the original King Kong, The Andy Griffin Show, Lassie, and Wheel of Fortune. Culver City has worked hard to maintain a connection to its past, even as it has grown in size, population and presence. The original city hall was built just as the movie industry was taking shape; it was by Orville L. Clark in 1928, also housed the police department and was reminiscent of the Beaux Arts style of architecture—albeit modestly—with a large pained oval window above its entrance. In 1995, in the middle of the city’s tremendously successful revitalization program, the city hall was rebuilt and updated to seismic code by architects, Armando Gonzalez and David Goodale of Gonzalez Goodale Architects. Gonzalez and Goodale included a remnant of the original 1928 building façade at its entrance, grounding Culver City firmly its past even as it looks to the future.

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28th Street YMCA

24. 28th Street YMCA

Photo: Courtesy of Eric Staudenmaier. (www.ericstaudenmaier.com)


Photo: Courtesy of Eric Staudenmaier. (www.ericstaudenmaier.com)

Why don’t more black people swim? Actually, the answer has nothing to do with stereotypes about muscle mass and floatability. Swimming went through two bursts of popularity in the United States, between the 1920s-30s and the 1950s-60s, booms that resulted in the construction of about 2,000 public pools across the country. By law Blacks were barred from using many of the new public swimming pools and as decades passed without either access or instruction, swimming did not become a part of the culture. African-American architect Paul R. Williams, however, created a notable exception the 28th Street YMCA in South Los Angeles. With a public swimming pool, gymnasium and dormitory room on the upper floors, the YMCA provided a refuge for black men, becoming a place that kept both body and soul afloat during difficult times. Williams’ 1928  Spanish Revival-style building was added to the city, state and federal historic registers several years ago, and its façade remains much as it was when the building first opened. An exciting rehabilitation of the building, however, has breathed knew life into the space; it now houses 48 studio apartments and includes supportive services for tenants, which will include youth transitioning out of foster care and special needs adults. The renovation and addition are by the acclaimed Los Angeles-based team of Hank Koenig and Julie Eizenberg, noted for their optimistic and tasteful use of color and unusual materials. Also, the project will incorporate the highest environmental building standards. Despite the newfangled makeover, and the absence of the swimming pool, the building will continue to do what it always has, provide a place of service, shelter and hope for those most in need.

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Compton City Hall

25. Compton City Hall

Photo: Courtesy of Compton City Hall


Photo: Courtesy of Compton City Hall

Compton is one of the oldest cities in Los Angeles County, having incorporated 125 years ago this month, on May 11, 1888.  Its civic center, located in the heart of the Hub City, boasts of architecture that nonetheless is eternally modern, including Compton City Hall and the iconic Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial. Designed by Harold L. Williams, a groundbreaking African-American architect who apprenticed with the legendary Paul Williams (no relation) and who went on to design a number of other civic structures, the city hall’s design is firmly rooted in the mid-century modern movement. In the civic center plaza, embodying the Compton spirit of community, sits the King memorial, a triumphant tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and a symbol of peace, hope and prosperity. Its classical touches and elements – such as the march of columns across the front, provide an architectural allusion to the Roman and Greek beginnings of western systems of government.  The King memorial, by noted sculptor Gerald Gladstone, evokes Dr. King’s last speech, “I have been to the mountaintop.” Speaking in Memphis, Tenn. the night before he died, King said that if he could travel in time, he would go to Greece and visit with its ancient philosophers at the pillared temple to Athena, the Parthenon. Then he would move on to Rome, where remnants of the former empire survive in the ruined columns of the Forum. More important than those antiquities, however, is the enduring struggle for democracy and freedom here in America, he said. So true. Architectural styles may evolve over time, but that struggle, the unifying and edifying mission of public art, democracy and civic building remains unchanged.

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John C. Argue Swim Stadium

26. John C. Argue Swim Stadium

Photo: By John Paul 'Boomer' courtesy of discoverlosangeles.com


Photo: Courtesy of John Paul ‘Boomer’ / discoverlosangeles.com & Gail Parker / John C. Argue Swim Stadium

 The 1932 Olympic Games put Los Angeles on the map. An unprecedented 100,000 people showed up at the opening ceremony,  and the games had a scale and quality never before seen  in the city . Los Angeles’ 10th Street was renamed Olympic Boulevard,  but because the country was in the grip of the Great Depression, costs were kept down with relatively few new venues constructed. One landmark slated for use during the Games was the newly-constructed Los Angeles Swimming Stadium, an impressive Art Deco style stadium  constructed beside the Greco-Roman inspired Coliseum  in  Exposition  Park.   Gold medal  swimmers  such as Buster Crabbe (the future Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon) entered through the natatorium’s imposing entrance, leading to a  then-state-of-the-art  50-meter pool. There were dressing rooms, a press section and seating accommodations for 10,000 spectators.  At the time, the pool was a model for international swimming, with ample, wide lanes that prevented swimmers from  veering into each other’s wake  — a common occurrence back then . As the Games came to a close, the  venue continued to serve the community,  with the USC swimming team and others using it for competitions.   By 1970, 65 world records  had been set at the stadium;  to date, no other pool in the world has come close to  such a milestone.  It’s glory days officially ended when the 1984 Olympic Games ushered in a new era,  and the natatorium was pushed aside for a pool  at USC.  Ten years later, the 1994 Northridge earthquake caused major damage to the old swimming stadium structure and the natatorium was closed down. Had it not been for the tireless  efforts of sports advocate and noted philanthropist John Argue, the 1932 Swimming Stadium would have likely gone the way of  the Olympic Village in the Baldwin Hills.  Argue  formed a nonprofit and helped secure funding to restore  the natatorium. There was much work to be done; the stadium ‘s structure walls were severely cracked,  and repairing them  was an engineering challenge. The original color of the concrete was poured in 1932 and weathered  for roughly 70 years,  so matching the color proved a feat.   In the fall of 2004,  however, the 120,000 square-foot renewed structure was completed at a cost of $30 million. Today  on the site there is a three-story recreation center with two basketball courts, weight and fitness rooms, a family pool, an outdoor amphitheater and a 50-meter competition pool. The LA 84/John C. Argue Swim Stadium is open to the public; it retains its original historic  façade, but offers a sleek and modern interior for champions, beginners and swimmers of every ability in between.

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Comments (8)
  • Avatar

    John Kurtz Mar 2 2012 - 12:26 am Reply

    The photo of the Clark is great but I do believe it is in a reverse image.

    Regardless this is still my favorite LAHCM in LA!

    John Kurtz

  • Avatar

    Joe McGuckin Mar 8 2012 - 4:43 am Reply

    Pann’s in Pulp Fiction? I don’t think so.

    The diner scenes were filmed at the Hawthorne Grill (now demolished) in Hawthorne…

  • Avatar

    Jimmie Woods Gray Mar 8 2012 - 7:47 pm Reply

    I’d like to see Golden State Life Insurance Building, At Western and Adams Blvd., saved for the community.

  • Avatar

    Michael Banner Mar 15 2012 - 2:04 pm Reply

    I grew up in Watts and can remember playing on the Tower as a young boy. I was fortunate enough to leave Watts and attend Loyola and I have been a resident of Westchester for the past 40 years. Panns is a neighborhood (community) institution and my favorite on the list. Wow! The 2nd District has many treasures. When will we redistrict these landmarks away?

  • Avatar

    Clint Rosemond Jun 6 2012 - 2:09 am Reply

    Leimert Park Village is currently under severe attack by the Botach Tactical company a business specializing in providing equipment to police and paramilitary organizations throughout the world. It has purchased three buildings in LPV that are all being used to some extent in this business operation. The original site of the business is the former Crocker Bank building on 43rd Place near the Shoe Warehouse. That building contains a safe – being originally built as a bank – which provides a secure place to store the small weapons that the business provides. A few doors east is a building recently acquired by Botach Tactical which now serves as it “retail” outlet – sells only to sworn police personnel and others approved by government agencies. The business has blacked out the windows on the street side and those doing business with Botach Tactical enter off the parking lot. On the west side of Degnan Blvd. Botach Tactical has acquired two storefront spaces in the building owned by Martin Manrique – recently retired from a long term business in upholstering. Again these two spaces are being used as warehouses for the international business of Botach. This year, Botach Tactical also acquired the building housing Eso Won books. It relocated that business to a smaller storefront and proceeded to turn this space into a warehouse operation. At the north end of this building was a space used for the last three decades at least as a restaurant; the most recent being Vieux Carre’. That business closed over a year ago and that space has also been converted to a warehouse operation. I understand that the city of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety and Zoning administration are looking into the legality of these operations.

  • Avatar

    Alicia Loy Griffin Jul 7 2012 - 4:04 am Reply

    As a sculptor living in the Crenshaw Baldwin Hills community, I have always believed that my community
    Is indeed special, a place of such diversity. One of my goals is to be commissioned by BHCP and the future Kaiser
    Permanente, to do a Large-Scale Sculpture on a site-specific designated area on the grounds of BHCP
    Or on the outside of the new projected development, Kaiser Permanente Plaza. I am very excited that
    Post and Beam the new restaurant located one block from my studio on Santa Rosalia is showcasing one of my sculptures.

  • Avatar

    Parke Skelton Sep 29 2012 - 5:26 pm Reply

    Here’s two: The Bethlehem Baptist Church by Rudolph Schindler at 49th and Compton. Amd Jefferson High, Clement Stiles, one of the great Streamline Moderne buildings in LA.

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