Downtown LA's Evolving Skyline Tour

Published Apr 19, 2006

The fun Art Society of Marshall was kind enough to work out a deal with the LA Conservancy whereby we could take their tour of downtown’s evolving skyline, so, needing an opportunity to give my new camera body a workout, I jumped at the chance. The tour turned out to be fascinating, although I spent more time setting up shots than listening to the knowledgeable guide.

The tour was fascinating because we did get to see such an evolution — starting with the library, built at the beginning of the previous century (pyramid cupola added in the 20s), we saw how downtown buildings changed. There were beautiful corporate headquarters built during the ’30s and ’40s, although they were all remarkably short because zoning laws limited heights to 15 stories at the time. Sadly, many of these were knocked down when taller buildings became legal, as corporations decided they needed (or wanted) giant towers as their international headquarters. Of course, these towers were tall boxes, with featureless exteriors built of one material + glass. Then we saw the softer, newer buildings, with some set-backs and lighter-colored materials. There were a few exceptions, such as the Westin Bonaventure, that were rounded and glass and had a softer aspect, but the Bonaventure in particular was an example of changing urban planning — set high off the street, the building is unpleasant to access for people walking at street level, but old plans had pedestrian footbridges, several stories above ground, leading between all of the high-rises at that end of town. That’s actually kind of Blade Runner, now that I think about it.

So, without further ado, the photos, the first big set taken with my new camera:

See many more at my Smugmug site!

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