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

 

Los Angeles Downtown

Even though we've been to Southern California many times before, we've always bypassed downtown L.A. because of the traffic chaos and because we saw it as just another American city with nothing that would really engage us.  This time around, I was determined to find a reason to visit the downtown of what is considered the second biggest city in the U.S.  I looked up the tour books and found that it has some interesting architectural attractions like the Walt Disney Music Centre, designed by Frank Gehry and there were a number of historic buildings listed by the LA Conservancy that sounded interesting.  

We planned our trip so that we arrived in the Disney Centre mid-afternoon (best place to park) and spent the time walking the few streets south of the centre.  The Disney Centre was spectacular and alone was worth the trip.  There were a number of art deco buildings in the neighbourhood, including the Los Angeles Central Library.  

One big surprise was the lack of people in the public spaces in the downtown area.  The main public space, Pershing Square, was deserted at 4 o'clock in the afternoon except for a few homeless people, and remained so into the late afternoon because it seemed that everyone left the downtown core by car.  It was a really weird sensation to be walking down empty streets in a big city like this, quite unlike San Francisco, Chicago, New York, or any of the Canadian cities.  We stayed in the downtown area as we had bought tickets for a concert at the Disney Centre, also known for its great acoustics - highly recommended. Downtown L.A. turned out to be an interesting place to tour - we will certainly return for more, perhaps join one of the walking tours offered by the L.A. Conservancy.

Walt Disney Music Centre - Frank Gehry building (of course)

One Bunker Hill - allegorical figures by Merrell Gage represent light, power and hydroelectric energy - this was originally the home a utility company.  Cubic motifs in the facade repeated in the lobby floor and elevator ceilings.

Coffered ceiling, floors and walls are composed of at least seventeen different types of marble.

Los Angeles Central Library, 1926

Pyramid at the top of the building features a sunburst and is topped by a handheld torch symbolizing the light of knowledge.

Elevator doors and doors into the building

Fountain outside library.
 

The exterior of the building is covered by ornamental and symbolic artworks and sculptures. 

The PacMutual Building on W. Sixth St. across from Pershing Square.  Three interconnected structures built between 1908 and 1936.  Beaux Arts building with grand lobby and vaulted ceiling, sweeping staircases.

Millennium Biltmore Hotel

 

Pershing Square at 4 o'clock on a week day

Disney Centre lit up at night

Inside the concert hall - great acoustics!