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Photography
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Monday, June 25, 2007 – Everyday Art Deco
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Okay, Mayan-Cubist Art Deco women with reptiles – and why not? The year was 1929, on the fast developing Miracle Mile of Los Angeles' Wilshire Boulevard – Fairfax to La Brea. Amazing buildings were popping up in the bean fields east of the tar pits – Hollywood money and the oil boom and all. The stock market hadn't yet crashed, not that made much difference in Hollywood. People needed escape, and a few blocks north on Melrose, RKO was soon churning out those Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers "white telephone" musicals, with their pristine Art Deco and Zigzag Modern interiors (you seldom saw an exterior shot save for some stock footage on a scrim). People needed escape, and escape is what they got. Movies were a cheap way out of the awful day-to-day for a few hours.
Out here, however, the Art Deco and Zigzag Modern were as real as real could be. This is the frieze over the entrance to Wilshire Tower, 5500 Wilshire Boulevard – architect Gilbert Underwood, 1929. You can imagine Fred Astaire and his choreographer, Hermes Pan (really, you could look it up), in an office upstairs discussing what to try in "Flying Down to Rio" or the "Gay Divorcee."
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A little history –
In the late 1920s, Wilshire Tower was erected between Burnside and Dunsmuir among the bean fields. Designed by architect Gilbert Underwood, who also designed the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park, the sensational Art Deco building with its sleek modern base and eight-story zigzag tower set the architectural standard for Miracle Mile.
In 1929 Desmond’s hat shop, a downtown institution since 1862, opened a branch in the building and perched a neon sign on top.
Spot zoning allowed Ross to be closely involved with the design of every new building on his properties. According to Lynxwiler and Roderick, innovative, eye-catching architecture was key to his strategy and became the benchmark of the Miracle Mile’s success.
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The architect, Gilbert Stanley Underwood?
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And some news (October 28, 2005) -
Among the new projects is Legacy Partners Inc. development at Desmond's, the first among Miracle Mile high-end department stores when it opened in 1927.
Three, 12-story towers with 125 condos and 39 live/work-space lofts will be built in the parking space in the rear of the original building.
The former department store, at 5500 Wilshire Blvd., will be restored, according to J.J. Abraham, Legacy vice president of development. Desmon's architect was Gilbert Stanley Underwood, who also de-signed the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite. Its 10-story tower will remain commercial, as will two floors of retail. Expected completion is at the end of 2008.
Just to the east –
Dominguez-Wilshire Building, 1930
Morgan, Walls & Clements
5410 Wilshire Boulevard
Zigzag Modern
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If you wish to use any of these photos for commercial purposes I assume you'll discuss that with me. And should you choose to download any of these images and use them invoking the 'fair use" provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976, please provide credit, and, on the web, a link back this site.
Technical Note:
Most of these photographs were shot with a Nikon D70 - using lens (1) AF-S Nikkor 18-70 mm 1:35-4.5G ED, or (2) AF Nikkor 70-300mm telephoto, or after 5 June 2006, (3) AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor, 55-200 mm f/4-5.6G ED. They were modified for web posting using Adobe Photoshop 7.0. Earlier photography was done with a Sony Mavica digital still camera (MVC-FD-88) with built-in digital zoom.
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[Everyday Art Deco] |
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All text and photos, unless otherwise noted, Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 - Alan M. Pavlik
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