The SMCA is another example of L.A.'s 1950s, Googie architecture that may be puzzling to the newcomer. Designed by Welton Becket, it opened in 1958 and has a pretty glamorous past -- including hosting the Oscar ceremonies in the 1960s.The first time I saw it, I didn't think much of it -- perhaps because it reminded me of the brutalist architecture of the Barbican and the South Bank in London. But here, we have the sun -- and sharp California light. The more I look at it, the more it grows on me, with its cubist-like edges against the blue sky and the grainy palm trees. I feel like I'm looking at a gigantic Cadillac radiator in a James Dean movie. I don't love it yet -- but I'm getting there.
photo LA Frog
2 comments:
A question I've long wondered about in regards to the Civic Auditorium is those big light poles. Sure, they are there to hold up the lights. But when viewed from the side (about 90 degrees out from the angle of the picture) they have a shape to them that suggests to me that they are an integral part of the design and they themselves have a theme.
My theory is that they are part of the modernist (-ism?) of the airplane theme of the age just after WW2. What's it called? Streamline Moderne maybe? Many automobiles of that time had huge tailfins and taillights that resembled jet engine tailpipes with flames. There are buildings such as Dulles International Airport (and even Charles de Gaulle a little bit) that have that airplane theme. So my theory is that with the contribution of Santa Monica to the airplane industry (Douglas Aircraft was home at Santa Monica Airport after all, and all the DC-3s in the world were born there), maybe those light poles owe their shape to airplanes...? I dunno. Inquiring minds want to know.
Thanks for sharing this. I hadn't thought of it, but, yes: aerospace, old sci-fi movies... I think that the poles are an integral part of the structure, maybe they're meant for flags, but they're definitely an architectural element.
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