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Los Angeles, California
Oceans of angels, oceans of stars, down by the sea is where you drown your scars
There are certain unavoidable truths that have revealed themselves to me over time, and one such truth is that I will use almost any excuse imaginable to travel back to somewhere I intrinsically like. If there's an art exhibit in Chicago or France or Toronto chances are I'll convince myself I just have to go. I used such a weak excuse two weeks ago to visit Los Angeles, one of those places I really like but probably shouldn't, one of those places I'm sure I'll return to again and again and again.
That said it should come as little surprise that this is the unannounced start of yet another slideshow from Los Angeles, my fifth in the last seven years. At least it's a short one this time, featuring two pages of buildings featured in car commercials, rambling explanations about said buildings, and at least one or two stories that have nothing to do with anything interesting but still afford me a chance to put words that don't (really) belong in parentheses as I carefully place a passing reference to a song lyric or book that I know only I will ever appreciate.
The fun starts at Morphosis' only real contribution to an already busy downtown famous architect festival, where the CalTrans Building does its best to look totally scaleless under that typically perfect blue sky.
The plaza side of the building folds west towards downtown, framing a washed out City Hall a block and a half away. The building itself hides behind layers of folding, undulating mesh screens, with a small open courtyard and a plaza that features a (cheap) light show that (I think) is featured on a Chevrolet car commercial.
CalTrans is California's transportation authority (which makes sense) and this building is an early result of Morphosis' deliberate (and successful) attempt to build more government buildings- additional such projects in San Francisco and Maryland should be open by 2006. Meanwhile if you are headed to Los Angeles in the foreseeable future (and I know a few of you that are), you should make every attempt possible to get yourself downtown. Within a fifteen minute walk you can visit Arata Isozaki's much maligned home for an otherwise loved contemporary art museum (MoCA), Frank Gehry's damn popular concert hall, Rafael Moneo's incomparable cathedral, the new Morphosis building and the Geffen Contemporary, MoCA's answer to PS1, designed by Gehry before he thought titanium and aerospace software were good ideas. If you somehow get a chance to get to Los Angeles before February you can see a truly fantastic show at the Geffen called Ecstasy, one that takes over the whole building and features benches that slide back and forth, a room with giant spinning mushrooms on the ceiling and most impressively an installation by someone named Erwin Redl called Matrix II that features a room filled with little green LED lights on strings- something than needs to be seen to be believed.
The best building downtown by far is Rafael Moneo's kick ass cathedral, an under appreciated building that still feels like its slumming with the rest of them on Grand Avenue.
The building complex is more than just the deep walls, wonderfully carved spaces, glowing alabaster screens and inappropriate art of the cathedral- the complex also includes a crypt (it is a cathedral after all), a parking garage (it is Los Angeles after all) and a plaza level cafe and restaurant. And while the food there could best be described as bad, there is still something wonderful about it even existing, about sitting on a decidedly urban plaza by a fountain on a sunny afternoon, watching the light change the shadows on the concrete as the roar of the 101 Freeway continues to disappear from consciousness.
A few more photographs of Rafael Moneo's hard to photograph cathedral. The building has a wonderful, carved feel that's hard to really convey through such a two dimensional medium- it's one of those places you need to be to (truly) understand.
Despite the expected natural hazards of droughts, mudslides, wind assisted fires and devastating earthquakes, Los Angeles still finds itself geographically lucky to be sandwiched between the Pacific and a series of real mountains. North of downtown on the ridge than separates Los Angeles from the San Fernando Valley is Griffith Park, occupying amazingly rough terrain surrounded by city in all directions. The park is criss crossed by wide, well maintained yet totally unmarked trails, paths that seem to provide totally open views (of at least one valley or another) throughout their entire lengths. This is such a view from the Mount Hollywood trail, not the mountain with that damn sign (that's the next one over on the far left) but rather the higher one with the observatory.
And while the ominous trailside sign may try to cleverly warn you that there is no water at Dante's Peak it also subtly reminds you that no water is the least of your concerns when those rattlesnakes and mountain lions start to attack.
The first of a few quick pictures of a Malibu beach, where there weren't that many rocks despite appearances to the contrary.
On the totally pleasant four or five mile section of beach that I walked I was surprised to find so few interesting houses. Most of them seem a bit run down actually, plus they're built right next to each other and their front doors are literally on the shoulder of the Pacific Coast Highway. Still there was the occasional exception to the rule, something that made you think that just maybe such a well known reputation may have been well earned after all.
I spent a lot more time thinking about where to stay this time, not about an actual hotel but more about location. I ended up at one of the two hotels at Universal City, a singular place with quick and easy access to the Hollywood and Ventura Freeways, reasonable proximity to Burbank's insanely small Bob Hope Airport (I flew JetBlue from JFK to Burbank), a short, steep five minute walk from a subway station (for trains downtown), an equally short, steep five minute walk uphill to Universal Studios and less than a five minute drive from an In-N-Out Burger. At Universal City I did not actually go to the theme park but rather did find time to visit Universal City Walk (see picture) a collection of shops and restaurants just outside the gates, a successful attempt at a fake urbanism and a great place to get some popcorn.
The Red Line subway from Universal City heads straight downtown via Hollywood with frequent service, cheap fares ($1.25 a ride or $3 for all day) and no turnstiles (it's an honor system). I used the subway both to go downtown to see buildings and to Hollywood/Vine to the Arclight theatres to see a movie at the AFI Film Festival. The film I had seen was called "Stories of Disenchantment" and was actually quite good although rather odd at times. An example is a major plot point where one of the three lead characters trades his magic belly button to a mystic woman for a pair of wings. Then things started really getting weird. The screening was populated by a lot of film industry weasels (you could tell by their insincere laughter at an offhanded "Hollywood" reference) and was introduced by the AFI guy as visually beautiful, certainly not for everyone (especially small children) and his personal favorite. The Mexican born director was supposed to be at the screening to take questions though he ended up being a no show, leaving my "what the hell were you thinking" question eternally unanswered. The Arclight theatres themselves were everything they've been rumored to be and without question the nicest film theatres I have ever been in.
Meanwhile if you have actually been reading any of the slideshows this year (which I guess is possible despite my best efforts to scare you off) you may have noticed an occasional reference to In-N-Out Burger. This year I was lucky enough to visit four locations (in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Arcadia -near the REI- and Universal City), some by design and others by coincidence. If you have not been to an In-N-Out Burger you need to go to one, if you have then you'll understand my obsession. It's just that good. Really.
