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Lwize Feb 8, 2013 10:33 PM

1,100ft Korean Air tower to replace Statler/Wilshire Grand

http://www.trbimg.com/img-51141348/t...01/525/384x525
(image - AC Martin Partners via LATimes.com)

Quote:

South Korean firm aims for the sky in L.A.
Korean Air's $1-billion hotel skyscraper — a symbol of South Korea's status as an up-and-coming economic powerhouse — will feature 73 stories, 900 guest rooms, office space and stores.


By Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times

February 8, 2013

Ambitious South Korean enterprises continue to make noise on the global economic stage.

Electronics giant Samsung is giving Apple fits in markets across the globe with its hot-selling smartphones and tablets. Seoul-based Hyundai and Kia have been among the world's fastest-growing automakers in recent years. Portly singer Psy put South Korea on the pop culture map with his monster hit “Gangnam Style,” which has become the most popular video of all time on YouTube with nearly 1.3 billion views.

So it was only natural that South Korea's top airline, Korean Air, on Thursday took the wraps off its design for a dramatic, skyline-changing tower for downtown Los Angeles. The $1-billion skyscraper is to become the tallest building west of the Mississippi River — and a symbol of South Korea's status as an up-and-coming economic powerhouse.

The 73-story hotel and office building will include 900 guest rooms, double-decker elevators and an observation deck that will afford views of the Pacific Ocean. Slated to replace the old Wilshire Grand Hotel at Wilshire Boulevard at Figueroa Street, the new building will be slightly taller than the nearby U.S. Bank Tower, which has held the title of tallest building west of Chicago since 1989.

Originally planned as two smaller towers when it was announced four years ago, the Korean Air plan has morphed into a single tower that will give the Seoul company bragging rights to the highest skyscraper on the West Coast.

Experts said that's in keeping with South Korea's hard-charging business ethos. The skyscraper, currently dubbed the Wilshire Grand, is an outgrowth of a competitive corporate culture that has come to dominate the South Korean economy over the last 30 years, according to UC Riverside Ethnic Studies professor Edward Taehan Chang.

After the nation endured poverty, dictatorship and political unrest during much of the 20th century, attaining superlatives has become part of the country's fabric, Chang said. Corporations strive to dominate their industries, while younger generations take pride in the near universality of South Korea's popular culture.

“They always want to reach for No. 1 status,” Chang said. “The rapid economic growth has been about striving for the top spot.”

Korean Air is already at work dismantling the closed 1950s-era Wilshire Grand Hotel to make way for the glass-clad tower, which is expected to be completed in 2017. Korean Air has provided airline service to Los Angeles for more than 40 years and has owned the Wilshire Grand since 1989.

Korean Air is the flagship company of Hanjin Group, one of South Korea's largest conglomerates. Hanjin has interests in land, sea and air transportation as well as construction, heavy industry, finance and information services. A high-end hotel fits well with Korean Air's operations in Los Angeles: The company makes parts for airplanes, flies the planes here as the busiest Asian carrier at Los Angeles International Airport, runs travel agencies that book the tickets and operates a catering business that serves the food on the planes.

“The new Wilshire Grand is an investment that makes sense, and we are excited to continue our relationship with this great city,” Korean Air Chairman Y.H. Cho said Thursday at the offices of AC Martin Partners, the project's architect.

The sail-shaped skyscraper will light up at night and dwarf many of its neighbors. Most of the building will be devoted to a hotel, though an operator has yet to be named. Arriving guests would be whisked by high-speed elevators to the “sky lobby” on the 70th floor for check-in.

According to the plan, the 71st floor will be a restaurant. The floor above that will house window-washing gear and engineering equipment, clearing the top floor for an infinity swimming pool and observation deck.

Near street level will be about three floors of restaurants and shops, topped by 30 floors of offices for rent. Elevators will be double-decked, carrying two stacked cabs of passengers for additional capacity during peak hours.

Perched at the very top of the building will be a decorative “crown” and a mast-like spire that will have embedded LED lighting that can change colors. The display will be eye-catching and visible for miles, but it will not be used for advertising, said Christopher Martin, chief executive of AC Martin.

“It's not Coke bottles, it's art,” he said.

With the spire reaching to 1,100 feet, the Wilshire Grand would become one of the tallest structures in the country, surpassing the 1,046-foot Chrysler Building in New York, which has 77 stories.

The contemporary design of the Wilshire Grand, with its floor-to-ceiling windows, is intended to set it apart from surrounding granite-clad office towers, said architect David Martin, who is Christopher Martin's cousin.

He hopes the building, which is to include 400,000 square feet of office space, will reflect the city better than the last generation of skyscrapers does. The Wilshire Grand, for instance, will have operable windows in its guest rooms and offices.

“This is about the culture and climate of L.A.,” Martin said. “We are creating a sense of place, only it's 1,000 feet up in the air.”

AC Martin also designed the Figueroa-at-Wilshire high-rise across the street from the Wilshire Grand in 1990. The family firm was the primary architect of Los Angles City Hall in the 1920s.

Work on the new skyscraper will create 11,000 union construction jobs, Korean Air's Cho said, and employ 1,700 workers when it opens in four years. The project has obtained most development approvals from L.A. city officials.

Cho, who lives in Seoul and has a home in Newport Beach, is on the board of trustees at USC, where his children attended college and where he obtained his MBA.

“L.A. is like a second home,” Cho said.

The 936-room Wilshire Grand, built in 1952, was originally a Hotel Statler and later a Hilton. Once one of the city's best hotels, it was most recently a mid-market inn catering to conventioneers and tour groups from overseas before it closed at the end of 2011.

The property is a few blocks north of Staples Center.

roger.vincent@latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...,7182698.story

I wonder if the spire will last, since there needs to be a helipad adjacent to it - could be a safety hazard.

tovangar2 Feb 9, 2013 12:45 AM

LA Floods
 
Ah, the LA of my childhood: floods, floods and more floods...

24 March 1948:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Q...704%2520PM.jpg
http://framework.latimes.com/2013/02...phibious-taxi/

...and smog.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-m...305%2520PM.jpg
http://foreignpolicyblogs.com

FredH Feb 9, 2013 1:17 AM

Circa 1925: Los Angeles motorcycle police stand at attention for inspection by Chief R. Lee Heath:

http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/4...stpection9.jpg
L.A. Times

I wonder what this collection of Indian motorcycles would be worth today!

This may be Olive Street up on Bunker Hill.

GaylordWilshire Feb 9, 2013 2:07 AM

Goat glands, ethics, usury, and the end of Dr. Wheeler
 
http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/9...riescomplb.jpg
LAT


I never found out how Dr. Wheeler got the goat glands inside the body "without a knife," as one ad put it. (Not sure I want to know.) Looks like he dodged a few ethical bullets, but, in the end, not one from his own gun....


PS A little history: http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/29/turner.php

Graybeard Feb 9, 2013 2:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckaluck (Post 6006871)

1925 (Is there any significance to the rock? Is this woman's dress a bona fide traffic hazard? :shrug:)
USC Digital

Public parking brake.

procab Feb 9, 2013 3:13 AM

Los Angeles City Water Company canal
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by procab (Post 6004687)
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...206_094009.jpg

I did a little walkabout in this area this morning. In the center of the latest pic is a road that is 10-20 feet above where the earlier pic shows the canal. Apparently the hillside slid on top of this this section. Note the eucalyptus tree to the left of the road, its base is very near the level of the canal. I wonder if it is related to the tree in the earlier pic.

South of the slide there is much evidence the canal still exists albeit under a foot or two of silt and debris from decades without maintenance.

I will post more pics as time permits.

PS: after viewing sections of this today I don't think the term zanja is correct for this water works. This is a fully concrete lined canal with some sophisticated engineering.

Here is the best preserved section of the Los Angeles City Water Company canal that I found.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...overarroyo.jpg

The riveted steel tube is 30" in diameter and sits on concrete piers at this location to allow a small arroyo to run its course. Behind the tube sitting on the same piers is the concrete channel that on the outside measures 90" across the base and is 70" tall. The of top of channel is open and the sides are a minimum of 8" thick.

Drive your google mobile here to see the location.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...oyoGmobile.jpg

In the center of the scene is a bluff covered in grass that the canal is buried in. To the right is a tangle of brush that hides this exposed section. On the far left Stadium Way climbs toward Elysian Park and on the hill above that you can see that distinctive tree from my earlier post.

Two maps that were invaluable in this quest were authored by Compton, Dockweiler & Lownes in 1896-7 and are available online at Huntington Digital Archives.
Sheet 1 covers from Buena Vista Reservoir north to about Los Feliz.
Sheet 2 continues north from Los Feliz to the valley.

tovangar2 Feb 9, 2013 3:46 AM

Wickedness
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire (Post 6007710)

That would be funny if it wasn't so wicked.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FredH (Post 6007671)

I wonder what this collection of Indian motorcycles would be worth today!

I wonder if they'e on their way to Torrance.


-and-


Quote:

Originally Posted by procab (Post 6007790)
Here is the best preserved section of the Los Angeles City Water Company canal that I found.

Excellent info! Thx so much procab.

ethereal_reality Feb 9, 2013 3:58 AM

:previous: -excellent exploration of the abandoned Elysian Park canal procab! I'm envious. :)
__



Two 'mystery' photographs.

I found these intriguing photographs on ebay quite some time ago. The only information given was 'Alhambra CA' -no date-no explanation-

photo #1
http://imageshack.us/a/img152/1075/a...tricallysh.jpg

The gentlemen's clothing date the photos to the late 1940s or 1950s.




photo #2
http://imageshack.us/a/img818/3155/a...eo1mystery.jpg

Yet the building(s) seems much more contemporary.

My first thought was religious sect, perhaps something akin to an early version of the Heaven's Gate cult http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven'...eligious_group)

A bit far-fetched I know...but I'm known for my vivid imagination.
__



Oh..and before I forget, great research on the 'gland' doctor C.E. Wheeler GaylordWilshire and BifRayRock. Riveting stuff.

http://imageshack.us/a/img33/7401/aabglanddoctor.jpg
__

Wig-Wag Feb 9, 2013 4:49 AM

Thanks for the update on the water channel/ pipe, procab. Nice work!

Cheers,
Jack

Wig-Wag Feb 9, 2013 5:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 6007830)
:previous: -excellent exploration of the abandoned Elysian Park canal procab! I'm envious. :)
__



Two 'mystery' photographs.

I found these intriguing photographs on ebay quite some time ago. The only information given was 'Alhambra CA' -no date-no explanation-

photo #1
http://imageshack.us/a/img152/1075/a...tricallysh.jpg

The gentlemen's clothing date the photos to the late 1940s or 1950s.




photo #2
http://imageshack.us/a/img818/3155/a...eo1mystery.jpg

Yet the building(s) seems much more contemporary.

My first thought was religious sect, perhaps something akin to an early version of the Heaven's Gate cult http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven'...eligious_group)

A bit far-fetched I know...but I'm known for my vivid imagination.
__



Oh..and before I forget, great research on the 'gland' doctor C.E. Wheeler GaylordWilshire and BifRayRock. Riveting stuff.

http://imageshack.us/a/img33/7401/aabglanddoctor.jpg
__

Ethereal_Reality, you will find your answer here:http://danielrsmall.com/xrays.html

I guess you could say the whole concept has a cult feel to it! It certainly is noirish.

Cheers,
Jack

Los Angeles Past Feb 9, 2013 6:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tovangar2 (Post 6007639)


Horrible phony skyline.

gus37 Feb 9, 2013 7:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tovangar2 (Post 6007815)
Quote:

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire (Post 6007710)

That would be funny if it wasn't so wicked.

Quote:

he injected himself with the juice of pulped guinea pig and dog testicles
...not something I expected to read tonight. Lo, it got worse from there

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckaluck (Post 6006871)

Urban camouflage, or stop sign augmentation?

tovangar2 Feb 9, 2013 6:04 PM

smog
 
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-m...305%2520PM.jpg
http://foreignpolicyblogs.com

Quote:

Originally Posted by Los Angeles Past (Post 6007939)
Horrible phony skyline.

Necessary to paint the skyline in so one knows it's LA, probably unrecognizable in the unretouched photo. But I'd agree it was seriously inept, but sort of adorably hokey, which is why I picked it.

P.S. What is that pagoda in the middle ground?

Godzilla Feb 9, 2013 6:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gus37 (Post 6007970)
...not something I expected to read tonight. Lo, it got worse from there

Urban camouflage, or stop sign augmentation?

Enough about the sign. What about the dress? :sly:

"Not to be outdone, next season, Adrian De' Arcadia introduced another traffic sign inspired design, dubbed the Candy Striper line."







1924 or 1926 - At Pico Boulevard looking North on Western Avenue. West Coast Uptown Theater and Maylord Apts. A winning combo!

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...412&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...412&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...412&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...412&DMROTATE=0




http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...412&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...412&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...412&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...412&DMROTATE=0


http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...412&DMROTATE=0

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...412&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...412&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...412&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...412&DMROTATE=0



Fitzsimmons Grocery StoreS and Stern Drug Co.
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...412&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...412&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...412&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...412&DMROTATE=0
All from USC Digital



1926 - A familiar intersection?
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics37/00068439.jpgLapl



1925
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater2/00015497.jpgLapl



1937
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater2/00015495.jpgLapl

1942
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater2/00015494.jpgLapl

Undated Artist's rendering
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater2/00015496.jpgLapl

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater2/00015499.jpgLapl

FredH Feb 9, 2013 6:22 PM

[QUOTE=ethereal_reality;6007830]:previous: -excellent exploration of the abandoned Elysian Park canal procab! I'm envious. :)
__



Two 'mystery' photographs.

I found these intriguing photographs on ebay quite some time ago. The only information given was 'Alhambra CA' -no date-no explanation-

photo #1
http://imageshack.us/a/img152/1075/a...tricallysh.jpg

The gentlemen's clothing date the photos to the late 1940s or 1950s.




photo #2
http://imageshack.us/a/img818/3155/a...eo1mystery.jpg

Yet the building(s) seems much more contemporary.

My first thought was religious sect, perhaps something akin to an early version of the Heaven's Gate cult http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven'...eligious_group)

A bit far-fetched I know...but I'm known for my vivid imagination.
__

This note was found by someone on ebay, along with the top photo.

Date of the note is 1935

http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/1...b5ea6f0a8z.jpg
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3014/2...0a8_z.jpg?zz=1

Godzilla Feb 9, 2013 6:23 PM

1949 - Temple Street and Virgil Avenue (Goat Gland transplant may help chronic gout and arthritis sufferers, but no proof of long term spelling improvements or ability to read upside down.)

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...ign&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...ign&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...ign&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...ign&DMROTATE=0USC Digital

Godzilla Feb 9, 2013 6:41 PM

Circa 1890 - USC College of Medicine. Cutting edge of Medical Science on North Broadway.

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...ign&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...ign&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...ign&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...ign&DMROTATE=0 USC Digital




Circa 1900 - South Pasadena. S.N. Glover and his goats acting like a bunch of kids.
(Could this photo have been attached to S.N.'s attempt to obtain an advanced research grant?) :uhh:
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...ats&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...ats&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...ats&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...ats&DMROTATE=0
USC Digital

malumot Feb 9, 2013 7:18 PM

Not a bad looking building.....Over 80% of the respondents to the poll in the Times' story rate it positive.

At least it avoids the ghastly bloated effect of the Ritz/Marriott at LA Live, which looks like how I feel after one too many bean and cheese burritos.

As to Roger Vincent, who used to be a competent real restate reporter - I don't understand how an announcement of a major Downtown hotel becomes a rambling treatise about South Korea's geo-political standing and its economic affairs. (And not that I have anything against the pop artist, but Vincent somehow shoehorns a mention of Psy into the story.....:slob: )

Is all that worthy of a paragraph or two? Sure. Two-thirds of the entire story? A bit much.

(My 3 favorites below are: Sanwa, with the turquoise crown, the white 777 Tower, south of the Statler, and Library Tower.

I don't need to point out the Statler to this crowd......LOL)


http://www.davidkean.com/ritz-carlto...ndominiums.jpg


Quote:

Originally Posted by Lwize (Post 6007453)
1,100ft Korean Air tower to replace Statler/Wilshire Grand

http://www.trbimg.com/img-51141348/t...01/525/384x525
(image - AC Martin Partners via LATimes.com)



http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...,7182698.story

I wonder if the spire will last, since there needs to be a helipad adjacent to it - could be a safety hazard.


procab Feb 9, 2013 7:38 PM

LAWC canal turns into the tunnel to Buena Vista Reservoir
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by westcork (Post 5659490)
That was an incredible landslide...
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics25/00032055.jpg
LAPL.ORG

The LAWC canal is clearly visible in the above picture as the light colored ribbon above and paralleling Riverside Dr. It also shows, to the left of the slide, where the open canal turned into the tunnel that led to Buena Vista Reservoir.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...elentrance.jpg
Google link to the above
The slide is to the right of the red line and in the oval is the terminus of the open canal. In the close up below you can still see the lines between the boards used to form the concrete almost 150 years ago.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...lentrance2.jpg

Does anyone want to volunteer to wade into that morass of poison oak to see if the tunnel still exists?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Godzilla Feb 9, 2013 7:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire (Post 6006884)



1316 N Virgil would be close to Virgil and Franklin.


Before or After?

1928 - Catalina Island gag photos of goats, ladies and straw hats. Goats will do anything for attention. Neither ladies nor goats are identified, but several respond to the name Billy.

Did the fact that simians are more respectful toward head gear provide the impetus for Monkey island? Orang tethered to broken stool unpleasant on so many levels. :(


http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics30/00064591.jpg
Lapl

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics30/00064589.jpg

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics30/00064588.jpg

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics30/00064590.jpg

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics30/00064618.jpgLapl

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00101/00101646.jpgLapl


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