Iconic LA, Stories of LA's Most Memorable Buildings [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

F.O. Gehry (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1890449083 | ISBN-13: 978-1890449087 | Publication Date: February 12, 2001 | Edition: 1

The twelve buildings of Iconic LA, identifiable the world over, demonstrate the personality and power of Los Angeles as a major metropolis. Their stories are the story of a city in progress, an urban biography that tells a century's worth of history. Like a character in a movie, each of these buildings has played a role in an unfolding human drama complete with intrigue, political struggle, tragedy, and triumph.

The architect of the Bradbury Building accepted the commission after consulting a Ouija board and was inspired by a futuristic novel written in the late 1800s; in 1984 the building became a set for the futuristic-noir film Blade Runner. The Jetson style LAX Theme Building provides an indelible image of one of the world's busiest airports; however, few know the poignant story of its designer, Paul Williams, one of Los Angeles's most important African-American architects. Frank Gehry's design for the Disney Concert Hall suffered criticism, public apathy, and political frustration; in 1999 construction officially began on what will arguably be the city's most visible and popular landmark. Other buildings discussed include Griffith Observatory, the Getty Center, Watts Towers, and Case Study House #22.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A combination of social and architectural history, this volume profiles 13 of Los Angles's most identifiable structuresDfrom the San Fernando Rey Mission, the Watts Towers, and Griffith Observatory to the Getty Center and the as-yet-to-be-completed Disney Concert Hall. The history of each structure is presented in a very readable and well-documented style. High-quality black-and-white historical and contemporary photographs and drawings provide a visual context for the narratives. As with any "best of" compilation, one can question the selection of "icons," but all of these structures (with the possible exception of Case Study House #22 designed by Pierre Koenig, the author's spouse) are readily identifiable as L.A. landmarks, and most do have Los Angles Cultural Heritage Commission historic cultural monument status. Recommended for comprehensive design libraries and general collections with an interest in Los Angeles local history or travel.DJay Schafer, Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

Frank O. Gehry: During the early 60s no one expected significant architecture to come out of LA. Critics dismissed the city as interesting but basically unimportant, which allowed room for a great deal of artistic freedom. For me, LA has always offered a kind of freewheeling chaotic order. I'm intrigued by its strengths and weaknesses, and see Los Angeles as a manifestation of our time."

Julius Shulman, architectural photographer: "The skill and sensitivity pertinent to the identity of LA's diverse design images is evident in Gloria Koenig's writing. Her selections, ranging from Watts Towers to Grauman's Chinese, from the San Fernando Mission to the upcoming Disney Concert Hall, reflect her innate abilities to observe a cross-section of the city's creativity in the arts and architecture."

Robert H. Timme, Dean, USC School of Architecture: "Iconic LA presents the reader with thirteen different buildings, each rich in style and substance, but it is the strength of the total collection that makes this presentation so exciting. Koenig is able to show that Los Angeles, unlike any other major city in the world, has a truly powerful foundation, comprised of diverse architectural images. This foundation has served as a catalyst to encourae the variety of creative work that is now, and will continue to be, constructed in this capital city of new modernism."

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 120 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (February 12, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890449083
• ISBN-13: 978-1890449087
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 9.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,180,841 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars From SF Bay Guardian Lit 12/2000, December 30, 2000

By 

Glen Helfand (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Iconic LA, Stories of LA's Most Memorable Buildings (Hardcover)

For those with architectural leanings, Gloria Koenig's Iconic LA offers tales and black-and-white pictures pertaining to a baker's dozen of Los Angeles's most memorable buildings, the Hollywood Bowl, Grauman's Chinese Theater, and the Getty Center, among them. Part guidebook, part urban history, Iconic includes compact entries that reveal as much about the architectural details - like the fact that Pierre Koenig's glassed-in modernist masterpiece Case Study House #22 was assembled in a single day - as they do about the people behind them. Who knew that Paul Williams, the architect who designed the space-age Theme Building at LAX, was African American? The book has the breezy quality of a Hollywood bio, with the buildings as stars.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Knowing Los Angeles, June 20, 2001

By 

barry moore (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Iconic LA, Stories of LA's Most Memorable Buildings (Hardcover)

KNOWING LOS ANGELES: EXCERPTS FROM CITE ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW: "Iconic LA" is not exactly the book its title and appearance might lead one to expect. It turns out to be more than just a splashy presentation of the cool, the weird and the kinky. What it is instead is a carefully focused look at 13 notable buildings spanning two centuries, well illustrated with pictures both current and historical, and topped off with succcinct text sufficient to whet the appetite of Los Anglophiles and architectural critics alike. Koenig, a former editor and writer at the University of California at Los Angeles, has selected buildings that represent different eras and architectural types. Each project is boradly described and documented, and the photographs - many of them are rare - are sublime. Some surpriese await the readers of this book; for example, how important a fixture on the LA architectural scene Lloyd Wright was, from the time he came to complete his father/s Hollyhock House in 1920, to his seminal designs for the Hollywood Bowl, and on through the 1940's. A readerr can also develop a new appreciation of how much Frank Gehry is a product of LA; it's probably for that reason that he was asked to supply the book's foreward. I have a growing bookshelf dedicated to Southern California, and "Iconic LA" has an important new place on it. It nestles comfortably next to Reyner BAnham's "Los Angeles: The Four Ecologies" and Charles Moore's "Experiencing Los Angeles". Its overview of immediately familiar structures and the insights they offer into the city's culture make "Iconic LA" a good companion to these. In the book Frank Gehry says, "LA is a city of instant recognition." He's right, and "Iconic LA" is where that recognition gets its due.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Icons of our Lives, December 4, 2000

By 

"jtaylorpr" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Iconic LA, Stories of LA's Most Memorable Buildings (Hardcover)

From: Society of Architectural Historians/Southern California Chapter News: This book wonderfully documents the history and character of Los Angeles through 13 architectural buildings over a course of a hundred years. Iconic LA: Stories of LA's Most Memorable Buildings tells the engaging story of a city that continues to progress despite political struggle and issues. Koenig's careful selection of projects illustrates the creativity and skills represented throughout the city. Some of the Los Angeles landmark buildings represented in the book are the Hollyhock House, Getty Center, Case Study House #22, Disney Concert Hall, and Grauman's Chinese Theatre. "This is a city of instant recognition, a collection of images disseminated by photographs and films that people have come to envision as laid-back Los Angeles, the place where movies are made and trends are tried out," said architect Frank Gehry. Each of these projects reflects an aspect of our daily lives whether it is art, identity, or architecture.