Marble and Copper and Bronze, Oh My!

For decades, downtown Los Angeles was a ‘no go’ area for many, especially for those who lived elsewhere in this sprawling city. Even now, there are still those who live in the west who wouldn’t dream of making the short journey, unless it was for an event at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, or Contemporary Art Museum or Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Notwithstanding Downtown’s very own Skid Row, the neighbourhood descended into disrepair, a centre for huge numbers of homeless people, people with drug and alcohol dependencies, squatters and such. After its golden heyday in the 1930s, large swathes of property were demolished to make way for high-rise institutions of commerce and finance, a place of work for people who drove in, ascended the glass and steel towers, went about their duties and then drove away again, their feet barely touching the streets all around.

 

In recent years, however, the area has begun to change, with trendy folks taking converted ‘loft’ apartments, artists and musicians establishing residence and scene, and ‘happening’ new cafes and restaurants aplenty. Amidst all this revival, the Los Angeles Conservancy has stepped up and in, dedicated to the preservation of the city’s architectural legacy, introducing locals and visitors alike to the delights of Art Deco and Beaux-Arts edifices dotted around the neighbourhood while also working to advocate and negotiate with property owners and developers to ensure that older buildings are not sacrificed to state-of-the-art construction. Interestingly, the nearby LA river, part of which is concretised, so often seen in films as diverse as Earthquake, Grease and (big favourite), Them!, has been given over to internationally renowned architect Frank Gehry for further regeneration.

 

Yesterday morning I took an LA Conservancy walking tour of some of Downtown’s Art Deco architecture – two and half hours of dodging in and out the shade, and in and out of stunning lobbies, decorated with intricately patterned marble, brass, copper, monel and, in the one case, lalique glass. The exteriors were equally jaw-dropping, the lines designed to draw the eye upwards, the fascinating use of dyes and pigments to create different colours of terra cotta, the abundance of hallmark ‘zig-zag’ and sunburst patterns, the fascinating way that architects of the time circumnavigated 1920s construction ordinances relating to maximum heights by adding follies, purely decorative, flying buttressed towers, to roofs, sometimes housing clocks or the huge lettering of whichever company had commissioned the building. As you can tell, I could go on and on, but one spot, the James Oviatt Building, it’s worth singling out. Its exterior is not as notable as its interiors, for this was THE men’s clothing emporium for Hollywood’s 1930s elite and boy could you see how and why. Gable, Tracy and Powell came here, passing the many glass display cases and entering the chic interior, all wood counters, neat rows of drawers and upper floor balcony. In its day there was even an outside area for a starry leading man to check how his potential new suit looked in the LA sunshine! If ever you visit LA, look up the Conservancy and take one of the tours - fantastic.

 

A fraught Uber-ride to West Hollywood brought me to the shop-and-cinema complex at 8000 W Sunset Blvd, to meet A and see the new film Stonewall, a depiction of the 1969 riots on New York’s Christopher Street, when the area’s gay community fought back against police bullying and corruption and the punitive legal constraints of the day. I had high hopes for the film, but it was a big let-down - too theatrical and stagey, too long, like musical theatre without the music and some horribly clunking dialogue. Better to see a 1995 film of the same name, lower budget, authentic locations, NO CGI (seriously!). A quick coffee and post-mortem with A (she agreed entirely), and then back to base and a rather excellent chat (recorded!) with a female friend of one of mein hosts, recorded because she had spent two decades working in TV and film production her in LA. Some fascinating insights and observations from a woman who graduated film school in LA in 1980, full of vocation and enthusiasm, and finally quit 20-plus years later having had enough of the grind, the farcical bastardisation of idea to development to script to pitch to rewrite and round and around. Best anecdote? Two writers and a production executive pitched a scrip proposal to a studio bigwig, based on an Oscar Wilde story. Studio bigwig loved it, really loved it, but needed to know whether this Wilde would be able to work on the script. I kid you not!

 

Right, the not-so-fat giraffe needs to shut the blinds and do his exercises before a bit more laundry and a lot more reading and writing. Seeing my friend G this afternoon for a walk on the (Santa Monica) beach before returning to their place for a BBQ. Don’t think I’ve seen G since 2003, so much catching up will be had by all!