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GaylordWilshire Mar 26, 2012 6:17 PM

The newly redesigned Theme Building at LAX
 
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2175/2...ce5aab9c_o.jpg
M.V. Jantzen

I suppose we'll get used to the new Mayan-Igloo design, the four glass-enclosed staircases, and the glass-atrium dome observation deck under the intersection of the arches, but I think the black snakelike sculptures are in questionable taste.

ethereal_reality Mar 26, 2012 8:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Engineeral (Post 5641826)
I know this is coming through as quite a large picture. What might a better size be (if any) and I will adjust it at ImageShack?

You can try 1600x1200.

http://imageshack.us/a/img27/3376/aaims.jpg

That said, the details on the two giant photos are amazing. If you change it to 21" screen you could still post details from this larger scan as well (like the hotel and other points of interests) by cropping and then posting them along with the complete photo at 1600x1200.

Hope that made sense. :)

GaylordWilshire Mar 26, 2012 8:39 PM

More Monrovia
 
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-J...2520PM.bmp.jpghttps://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-L...034%2520PM.jpg
LAPL/GoogleSV


The Mosher House got me interested in Old Monrovia... I hadn't realized that Upton Sinclair (whose book The Jungle is a sure cure for nostalgia) lived in the pretty old burg, in a house similar to the Moshers' and just up the street at 464 N. Myrtle Ave. Its architect is documented as Frederick Wallis-- it seems likely that given the similarities and proximity of the two houses, he might have designed both.


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6...2df1087970b-piLos Angeles Times 9-16-1923

Sinclair bought the house in 1943 and lived in it for about 25 years.

GaylordWilshire Mar 26, 2012 9:13 PM

And still more Monrovia...
 
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-A...2520PM.bmp.jpgLAPL
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Q...2520PM.bmp.jpgCarnegie Libraries of California
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-a...negiecolor.jpgCarnegie Libraries of California


Sorry, I'm on a roll.... Myrtle Avenue in Monrovia appears to be a treasure trove--I wish I could say that the library above still stands, but it was replaced in 1956. I've always loved Carnegie libraries, especially after seeing the one (also demolished) in Santa Rosa in my one of my favorite movies--even if not set in L.A.--Shadow of a Doubt. I can almost smell the inside of this place. Btw, Los Angeles City had a number of Carnegies, and three still exist, including the Vermont Square library at 48th and Budlong:

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics26/00032568.jpgLAPL

ethereal_reality Mar 26, 2012 10:36 PM

:previous: I love the Vermont Square Library. It reminds me of a Louis Sullivan design.


So what are they doing in this recent photo? At first I thought they were retrofitting, but the more I look at the photo the more the metal pipes resemble...dare I say....gutters!? Would they really place them like that...as opposed to the corners where gutters are usually placed?


http://imageshack.us/a/img534/1294/a...montsquare.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ve...os_Angeles.JPG




below: The detailed entrance.

http://imageshack.us/a/img12/1374/aa...ontsq1jodi.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jodisum...0844/lightbox/

____

GaylordWilshire Mar 26, 2012 11:08 PM

:previous:

I did read somewhere that the Vermont Square branch was recently renovated... perhaps it was discovered that a lack of gutters (it doesn't seem to have had any originally) contributed to deterioration of the walls, as it often does (even in Southern California, I guess, where I'd like to imagine it never rains).

They do mar the building's looks to a degree... and you're right about the Sullivan look. I hadn't paid enough attention to the detailing. Thanks for pointing that out, e_r.

GaylordWilshire Mar 27, 2012 12:51 AM

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-f...llytaft469.jpghttps://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Y...ralphs469a.jpghttps://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-x...2520PM.bmp.jpghttps://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-r...2520PM.bmp.jpg


We've covered the many architecturally significant Ralphs here before... I was intrigued by the top left photo, unidentified by the library.... Where was this Ralphs, I wondered? Well, it turns out that just to the right would have been one of the chain's famous Morgan, Walls churrigueresque designs, seen top right. I knew that the lamp looked like the later Hollywood Boulevard design (taller, on the same base), but I was thinking of the store at 5711 Hollywood Blvd as being on a corner... well, piecing that and other things together, such as details of the palms and phone poles, I realize that that Ralphs was in the middle of the block, between Taft and Wilton. The Google view north on Taft doesn't reveal the height of the hills as seen in the ca. 1956 photo, which confused me, but I realize that camera perspectives are tricky. Anyway, a quick cruise up Taft, and eureka... there are those houses, still there on the west side of Taft. Apparently Ralphs took over and tore down the building closer to its Taft corner at some point to make for more for all those beautiful midfifties Chevys and Pontiacs and Buicks....

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics44/00071527.jpg
The low building to the west of Ralphs wasn't there originally, and it seems to have been demolished at some point to
provide parking for the grocery store, which Pier 1 and its parking lot now occupy. I'm not sure when the
Morgan, Walls building was demolished.

Two pics at top, one at bottom: LAPL; others, Google SV

sopas ej Mar 27, 2012 1:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire (Post 5642232)
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-A...2520PM.bmp.jpgLAPL
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Q...2520PM.bmp.jpgCarnegie Libraries of California
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-a...negiecolor.jpgCarnegie Libraries of California


Sorry, I'm on a roll.... Myrtle Avenue in Monrovia appears to be a treasure trove--I wish I could say that the library above still stands, but it was replaced in 1956.

Ah, Monrovia. It has much more character than neighboring Duarte (where Glenn Miller supposedly once lived). I used to go into Monrovia regularly, being that I had a friend who lived there, but he doesn't live there anymore--he moved out 8 years ago, so there's really no reason for me to go there anymore. My partner and I would joke with him about Monrovia being very "provincial," to put it politely; my partner had a professor who said that in the San Gabriel Valley, civilization ends east of Pasadena, and we once told our friend that, to his chagrin.

Monrovia is home, of course, to the Aztec Hotel, built in 1925, I believe, and was once on the alignment of Route 66.

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics05/00022473.jpg
LAPL

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics05/00022474.jpg
LAPL

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics05/00022476.jpg
LAPL

And the 1956 library, that replaced the earlier Carnegie? It too has been replaced, by a much larger library, in 2009.

ethereal_reality Mar 27, 2012 1:55 AM

:previous: Great sleuthing Gaylord_Wilshire. Nice post sopas_ej (the Aztec Hotel is otherworldly).

ethereal_reality Mar 27, 2012 2:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire (Post 5641815)
Usually, I like to stick to Los Angeles and maybe Pasadena...but today I'm motoring out to Monrovia.

I see no problem in venturing out to Monrovia G_W. I think anywhere in Los Angeles County fits the criteria of the thread.

___

Engineeral Mar 27, 2012 11:10 AM

Donut Hole
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by sopas ej (Post 5642678)
Monrovia is home, of course, to the Aztec Hotel, built in 1925, I believe, and was once on the alignment of Route 66.

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics05/00022476.jpg
LAPL

I like the pictures but I don't know if I'd want to stay at the Aztec Hotel - spooky, thinking about pyramids and sacrifices!

And another odd-shaped fast-food outlet:
https://i.imgur.com/YUCQq11.jpg
The Donut Hole
Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
Date not specified. '90s, 2000s?

Engineeral Mar 27, 2012 11:21 AM

Beverly Hills Independence Hall
 
One elegant Deco building preserved after being threatened with destruction:

The Waterworks Building, completed in 1927. It tapped water from Beverly Hills wells and enabled the wealthy little city to separate its water supply from that of Los Angeles. As a result, the building was humorously referred to as "Beverly Hills Independence Hall." Later it became the library and archives building of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.


https://i.imgur.com/P6T8La0.jpg



Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.



Public utility buildings built today sure look utilitarian. I wonder how the city officials could justify the extra cost of such grand buildings back in the 20s, 30s and 40s?

GaylordWilshire Mar 27, 2012 1:05 PM

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-N...2520PM.bmp.jpgLAPL


So would the pyramid now be filled with the gold mined in the past 80 years?

malumot Mar 27, 2012 2:03 PM

why is it so hard to delete a post?

GaylordWilshire Mar 27, 2012 4:12 PM

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-s...2520PM.bmp.jpghttps://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-f...2520PM.bmp.jpg

Otto the Tailor, circa 1920, and the building today--6741 Hollywood Blvd. I'll trade some sidewalk stars to bring back some of the building's detail... and the car.


Left: The Bruce Torrence Hollywood Photograph Collection; right: Google SV

rbpjr Mar 27, 2012 5:20 PM

[QUOTE=GaylordWilshire;5641933]http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2175/2...ce5aab9c_o.jpg
M.V. Jantzen

Out with the old...and in with the UGLY!

GaylordWilshire Mar 27, 2012 6:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Engineeral (Post 5643036)

Public utility buildings built today sure look utilitarian. I wonder how the city officials could justify the extra cost of such grand buildings back in the 20s, 30s and 40s?

I think that once upon a time, no justification was necessary. Back in the day there was public will (and willingness to pay) for more than the utilitarian, which wouldn't have been tolerated as an affront to aesthetics--utilitarian wouldn't even have occurred to the citizenry. They wanted something to look at and be proud of. Also, back then there were still craftsmen with "old world" experience who were willing to work for relatively little; resources didn't have to be reallocated from exteriors to internal systems such as climate control, parking, and earthquake readiness; there was more imagination and classical education among architects and developers, and there wasn't the disinterest of the latter beyond their bottom lines--all these contributed to the lack of banality of most public and private buildings before WWII....


:previous:
Quote:

Originally Posted by rbpjr (Post 5643391)
Out with the old...and in with the UGLY!

I realize that I probably should have waited until Sunday to post that....

jg6544 Mar 27, 2012 7:00 PM

[QUOTE=rbpjr;5643391]
Quote:

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire (Post 5641933)

I think that what you're seeing is the framing in place until the concrete hardens - at least I hope it is.

sopas ej Mar 27, 2012 7:39 PM

[QUOTE=rbpjr;5643391]
Quote:

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire (Post 5641933)


You guys DO realize that that photo was taken while the Theme Building was undergoing restoration, right? It now looks like it's always looked on the outside; I was just at LAX last month, incidentally. Its restoration was completed a while ago.

ethereal_reality Mar 27, 2012 8:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Engineeral (Post 5643036)

The Waterworks Building, completed in 1927.

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/1745/15596r.jpg[/URL]
Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.



http://imageshack.us/a/img714/7088/b...ater2ladai.jpg



I read somewhere the tower was built so the smell of hydrogen sulfide would be released high above the populace.

http://imageshack.us/a/img29/8955/be...aterworksb.jpg
http://www.lapl.org/


http://imageshack.us/a/img210/328/be...aterworksa.jpg
google street view


Here is a link to the Academy's Fairbanks Center for Motion Pictures Studies now located in the old Beverly Hills waterworks.

http://www.oscars.org/academy/buildings/fairbanks.html


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