L.A. Downtown Architectural Tour Pt. 1

The architectural tours run by the Los Angeles Conservancy are only on Saturdays - the timing was perfect as we left Yosemite on a Friday.  I booked ahead to make sure we got on on the Art Deco tour.  We arrived early at Pershing Square, the meeting point for the tour.  There was time for a quick walk up Grand Avenue to photograph my favourite landmarks, the Disney Music Centre and the Broad, the Contemporary Art Museum.  During the tour, the guide also pointed out a few non Art Deco buildings of interest.  So this post is a mix of significant architecture that appeals to me in downtown L.A.

Being a Frank Gehry fan, the prime attraction for me was the revisit of the Disney Music Centre, for me, the most beautiful of the Gehry creations I have visited.  It has amazing acoustics too - I attended a concert by a pianist here last time I was here.  The angular design was used by Gehry to symbolize musical movement and the motion of Los Angeles."  Time for another concert - a full orchestra would highlight the acoustics even more!

Walt Disney Music Centre

 

Right beside the concert hall is the Broad, a contemporary art museum - another beauty. The museum is an important storage vault in addition to being a gallery as it supports the Broad Art Foundation's extensive lending activities.  I would like to make another trip to see the architecture from the inside, where the vault is placed in the centre of the building, visible on the main floor and also forms the floor of the third floor galleries. 

We happened to be on Grand Avenue at the same time as a film crew was doing a shoot with a Nissan roaring down the street.  There were no other cars on the road but staff were stationed at every crosswalk to prevent us from stepping onto the street without permission (at the risk of being run over!).  We found out later that this was the filming of an ad for Nissan.  What's L.A. without a film shoot...!?

Walking up S. Grand Ave towards the Music Centre, we came across the interesting mural outside the Madison Complex (also known as the AT&T Switching Station).  This map of the world was made of old switches, cables and other phone technology from Pacific Bell.  (Artist Anthony Heinsberger)

AT&T Building with its microwave tower

Museum of Contemporary Art with its cute graphic-like roof

Pershing Square, where our tour started

I remember vividly my last visit to this square on a weekday lunch hour - there were no office workers hanging out there.  The only visible life were the homeless.  This Saturday, there were tourists like us waiting for the start of the tour.  Otherwise, it's the world of the homeless.

 The Art Deco tour started with the CalEdison Building with its gorgeous interior, the floor and walls composed of 17 different types of marble.  The building was one of the first all-electricity heated and cooled building in the U.S.

 

 

Stunning elevator doors, reminded me of the ones in Chicago

Detail inside the elevator

Water fountain

Los Angeles also has one of the most handsome art deco libraries in the world.  I have visited the inside before but this time it was just a cursory tour of the outside. 

 

 Across the street from the library - the splendid Bunker Hill steps

 

 

The Oviatt Building, the first Art Deco building in L.A., was the next significant stop, starting with the metal gates to the lobby.

Metal gates to the lobby

 

A 12-ton illuminated glass cornice and glass arcade ceiling by architect Ferdinand Chanut and glassmaker Gaëtan Jeannin

 

 

Glass doors to the restaurant on the main floor

 

 

 

We were allowed a quick peek inside the splendid art deco restaurant through the glass doors.  As I'm writing this, I'm starting to think about the next trip here - dinner reservations at the Cicada Restaurant for sure!

These two elevator doors have glass panels designed by Lalique!

Fruit and leaves design on these panels