Customer Reviews

L.A. 2000+: New Architecture in Los Angeles

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John Leighton Chase has provided Angelenos with a Pride Book that investigates the superb architectural wonders that have grown out of the land since 2000. Of course with his background as an urban designer for West Hollywood, as an architectural critic, and as an author he is able to define the changes that have occurred and put a particular spin on his insights as to the importance of each of the thirty buildings that draw his focus.

The crowning glory of the book is of course Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall and the images of that hall are spectacular. But he also gives significant attention to some not so well known architects and designers such as null.lab and predock_frane whose buildings are as quixotic as their design firms' names!

Los Angeles has long been considered a land of the temporary - building not so much for posterity as to serve an immediate purpose (the Temporary Contemporary Museum - now the Geffen - is a fine example of this concept). This book allows the serious reader to see that Los Angeles has finally come of age as a serious architecture center. The joy is that Chase manages to keep it all in perspective, understanding well LA's penchant for the new and kinky! Grady Harp, November 06

It shows what's been building in los angeles and allows more of what's out there than what's already there throughout all of los angeles' history. it's good book to update the other books about buildings 100 years in history... this book covers very little and several smaller buildings that captures pre-fab ideas and environmental conscious building designs.