But anywho, I parked and started out near Pershing Square...
Pershing Square was LA's first (if I'm not mistaken)...and today has a wonderful architectural backdrop combining old-school buildings like the Biltmore Hotel with newer skyscrapers and other buildings. The square itself...is so-so. While it's not bad, and is certainly colorful, I think the space uses too much concrete and is fragmented into too many sections and levels. Unaviodably, there is also some of the seediness of the general area. Still, with a thoughtful redesign, and with general uplifting of the neighborhood, this could easily become a truly great square.
Biltmore to the fore...
This nice deco building is on the northeast corner of the square...I think it's the former Ohio Oil Building?
...and this oldie with attractive brickwork is in the southwest corner...the color and patterns are similar to the Biltmore's...I believe it was the Associated Realty Building, or something like that. Next to it, another nice oldie with a clock on top...I think formerly known as the James Oviatt Building.
A picture of Assoc. Realty with Aon Tower in the background...
I went down 7th Street, with primary intent of taking a peek at the old Warner Brothers Theater.
A couple of random shots:
This (below) is the Warner Bros. Theater Building...which was the main showpiece for the studio back in the 1920s. Today it is part of Downtown LA's Jewellery District.
The theater survives largely intact but the interior has been partitioned to accomodate its current function. I've read that the current owners generally don't mind people interested in photographing the interior...I'll try that some other time. Subsequent to this theater the Warners built a number of art deco gems around town. The largest is in Hollywood and sits abandoned, waiting for some TLC. There are also fine examples in San Pedro and Huntington Park. A truly beautiful Warner theater in Beverly Hills was sadly demo'd in 1988 and replaced with...a parking lot.
In the pic below, the Downtown Warner is to the right. I believe the building on the right was called the Foreman Building.
This great little example of example of art deco is between 7th St and Pershing Sq...I think it's on Hill St, if I remember correctly. The glazed sea-green veneer is reminiscent of two of LA's more famous deco edifices - the Wiltern Theater and the Eastern Columbia Bldg.
I think this is 6th St, looking east:
These buildings look very business-like, yet with ornate details as typical of yesteryear...
Same buildings to the left, looking south on Hill St, if I remember correctly...
Finally getting to Broadway...the very ornate building with the arch is the Arcade Building. Next to it are three surviving theaters. Right to left, they are the Arcade, Cameo, and Roxie Theaters...all three in disuse, I think (but at least, all still intact).
The Arcade Building, does, in fact, have an arcade (photo below). This hall provides a passage from Broadway to Spring St. Today it serves as home to a variety of small vendors...but it's not difficult to imagine it spruced up as a classy home to shops and eateries.
Just to the south are two of the most important theaters, the Palace and the Los Angeles. The Palace, on the east side of the street, was the main showcase for RKO (one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age, together with MGM, Paramout, Warners, and Fox) before the construction of the grander Orpheum Theater down the street. Across from the Palace on the west side of the street is the Los Angeles, which has perhaps the glitziest interior of all of LA's historic theaters. The image below, the Palace marquee is on the right, and the LA is on the left.
Here is a view of the Palace from the east side of the street...
...and here is a close up of the Los Angeles.
I think this theater is modeled on the San Francisco Fox Theater.
Some more theaters... Here is one of my favorite, the Tower Theater. This one is smaller than some of the others, and has a somewhat uniquely shaped interior. The exterior is quite distinctive, too:
While most of the theaters on Broadway are in need of restoration, the one that already been spruced up (and one of the best) is the Orpheum Theater. This became the main showcase for RKO Studios, taking over from the Palace. I fully intend to attend a show here in the upcoming months, and will take some pics for SSC when I do.
This shot has three nice buildings in one pic...the Orpheum on the left, United Artists Theater in the background in the middle, and Eastern Columbia Bldg to the right of center.
A closer shot of some entrance details:
Unfortunately I did not get pics that do justice to the UA building. This Spanish-gothic delight is my favorite theater / tower combo in all LA, together with the Wiltern on Wilshire Blvd. Some day, I will get better pics, including hopefully the interior of the theater, which is currently a church. Till then though, these two:
The building below houses Loew's State Theater. MGM was Hollywood's biggest studio during much of the "golden age"...and Loew's was its theater chain. Sorry that I didn't get a picture that does the building justice...it has really attractive brickwork in a lush red color. I'll rectify that some other time.
Just a random but nicely detailed doorway a little south of the Orpheum...
...and another shot of the Orpheum just for good measure.
Before leaving downtown for an evening invite, I stopped by to get a membership with the public library. The main entrance is on Flower St:
There is beautiful rotunda half hidden away on the second level:
McArthur Park...
Feathery Angelinos at McArthur...
UCLA - Royce Hall etc.
Some Santa Monica pics I took a little while back...
Ticket booth:
Portico ceiling:
Show:
The Pacific in the distance...
Santa Barbara Courthouse:
Starting out in Pershing Square...
Clocktower of the Oviatt Building...
Looking up at the Pacific Finance Building:
View of our first stop, the Pacific Mutual Building:
Looking from the barrel vaulted foyer to the main lobby, both spaces featuring rich appointments and coffered ceilings:
The next few pics are of the Mayflower Hotel, currently the Hilton Checkers. On my first visit to LA as an adult (I also visited as a youngster in 1984) back in 2008, I stayed at this hotel. Maybe later I will repost some shots I took from my hotel room back then.
The Towering Inferno (for those who recall):
Our next stop, the Southern California Edison Building, is front and center in the pic below:
Ceiling of the porte-cochere:
The main doors:
The gorgeous lobby, sheathed in tavertine and other fine stones, and intricately decorated:
Southern California Edison details:
Here, to the west of Pershing Square, the Biltmore...
...and to the west of the square, a very similarly shaped building, called the Subway Terminal Building. Both buildings were designed by Schulz and Weaver, a firm most noted for the many grand hotels it built in that era. Back when the Red Cars ran through LA, there was in fact a terminal beneath this building, which was our next stop in the tour. It has some nice details, though nothing to write home about, and today houses private apartments. We briefly stepped into the lobby.
The building with the partial red brick cladding is Grand Central Market, and the taller building to the right is the Million Dollar Theater, both seen here from the rear and at a diagonal.
Across the street from the Subway Terminal Building...
The north side of the Subway Terminal Bldg can be seen at lower left in the first pic...
For those unfamiliar, in the old days...this funicular connected the mansions on Bunker Hill to the commercial areas down below. The funicular reopened in the 1990s after several decades then was closed shortly thereafter following a fatal accident. The current location is shifted several hundred feet south of where it originally was.
Rear view of the Million Dollar Theater to the right...
...and red-orange brick of the Bradbury Building beyond.
Side and details of the Million Dollar Theater. The style is called Churriguerresque.
Full view of the front facade, from across Broadway:
Corner of the Million Dollar (left) from across Broadway:
The Bradbury Building is fairly unassuming from the outside...
...but the interior is among the most noteworthy of LA's oldie buildings. The space has taken it's place in popular culture, featuring in a number of Hollywood productions, most notably in the climax of "Blade Runner."
Moving on...I wanted to see what was at the top of Angel's Flight. It's called the Water Court, at the base of California Plaza. I had seen pictures of it before but didn't know where it was, so was happy to discover it. It's a nice little oasis in Downtown, with a nice view too. Bonus points for anyone who can spot the Disney Concert Hall in the last pic.
Walking back towards the library, where my car was parked...
And that's all from my first LA Conservancy tour day.
U2 Concert at Angels stadium yesterday...
Some pics taken while visiting the Tim Burton exhibit at the LACMA's (relatively) new Resnick Pavilion a few weeks ago. We tried to see this exhibit back in 2009 at NYC's MOMA but it was sold out. The exhibit is highly recommended for anyone interested in pop culture. We could not take pictures inside the exhibit proper so that's not seen in these posts. The Resnick is a pretty simple but attractive modernist addition to the LACMA's cluster of buildings. A few more pics to follow...
