Ron living in Manhattan Beach reported his findings of investigation on epoch making buildings in Los Angeles.
Dear Greenwood,
Thanks for the capsule view of your holiday. Since you are probably back home now, I'm sending some photos which I've been meaning to send for some time. (I write on the 22nd, but it's already morning of the 23rd in Japan).
Last August Connie and I did a short tour of some houses in LA. The first one was by an architect called Gregory Ain. He worked immediately after the war and built a small development in West LA in a very innovative style. This was very modern and clean and was a brave attempt the change the way people thought about their houses. The houses were quite small, about 100 sq.m. which was the usual size for small houses in LA at that time. Unfortunately, in spite of some cost-saving measures, they cost almost 2x a conventional house of the same size. Only about 1/4 of the planned development was ever built. Elements from these houses have been copied very extensively. Here in LA you often see examples where some of his ideas are being used in houses being built today.
They are still there and, remarkably, have not been changed in any serious respect. The people who live in them must realize what landmarks they are. Pictures show some of the houses. The trees in the streets have become very large and the street scene is shown. A unique LA neighborhood.
Street and Houses designed by Gregory Ain (photo by Mr. Cooper)
Then we went into the Hollywood hills, looking for more famous houses. The photo is a 192x house by Frank Lloyd Wright in the so-called "Mayan" style, made of concrete. This is huge, and very difficult to photograph since the streets are narrow, hilly and winding. Normally it is open to the public, but has been closed down for repairs. These are very extensive, so I don't expect it to be opening again soon.
House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (photo by Mr. Cooper)
Finally, tomorrow (today in Tokyo) our new Concert Hall opens. This was designed by Frank Gehry, a Los Angeles architect. No doubt you have seen pictures of it; right now we are inundated with articles and films about it. Gehry also designed the famous museum in Bilbao, Spain. It was financed by the Walt Disney family and many others. The official name is "Walt Disney Concert Hall". He was awarded the design about 15 years ago, long before he did Bilbao - a very big gamble on the part of the donors.
Walt Disney Concert Hall
We've seen it from time to time during the construction. It was not impressive - looked like a scene after an earthquake. I hope it looks better now - most commentary is very complimentary. We'll get to see it early next month, when we have tickets to a concert there.
Surrealistic view of stairways above the east side, looking down Grand Ave (photo by Mr. Cooper)
According to commentators the sound of the auditorium is wonderful. Comments include words like "sublime", "Phenomenal", etc. Gehry paid enormous attention to the sound. He worked with master acousticians Minoru Nagata and, later, Yasuhisa Toyota, changing the design as they specified. People are comparing it with the greatest halls in the world, including Boston's Symphony Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Vienna's Musikvereinsaal. So we will be very interested in our first concert there.
Perhaps you have read of the miserable mess the NY Philharmonic is in. Unhappy with the acoustics (and other things) in Avery Fisher Hall in NY (a similar hall to LA's old hall) they announced that they were moving to Carnegie Hall (which has excellent acoustics). Recently they announced the abandonment of that plan - it just turned out to be impossible to accommodate their season in the hall. So they are back in Fisher hall, no doubt a very uncomfortable situation. LA's situation seems to be much better.
I'll keep you informed as I find out more, especially on the sound front.
October 23, 2003
Rev. November 23, 2003