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Top 5 U.S. Buildings

In an attempt to blog and by a general call by MAN, here are five of my favorite buildings that I see on a regular/semi-regular basis—within the United States. The first four are in Los Angeles, and the last is in Cabazon, CA.

1. Department of Water and Power Building (1964), 111 Hope Street. architect: AC Martin Partners, Inc.
I like the building, the moat and the parking structure. They turn the fountains off well before I go out taking pictures, unfortunately. It was also the subject of a few photographs by Christopher Williams, which can be seen at the Hammer Museum exhibition Hammer Contemporary Collection, Part 1.

2. Caltrans District 7 Headquarters Building (2004), 100 South Main Street. architect: Thom Mayne/Morphosis
The entrance lobby installation is by Keith Sonnier. In the picture, it is the blue and red lights, which is to reference the head and tail lights of vehicles. I like it when the building closes itself up. The building has mechanical apparatus that allows the exterior panels to open or closed depending on the temperature and sunlight effecting it—much like a greenhouse.

3. Theme Building (1961), Los Angeles International Airport, 1 World Way. architect: James Langenheim of Pereira-Luckman
It is surrounded by short term parking structures, it houses Encounters restaurant, inspired Jetsons architecture, and I once saw Jude Law there. I don’t know why I don’t have a picture of it.

4. The Getty Center (1997), 1200 Getty Center Drive. architect: Richard Meier
Several years ago I did a series of paintings of the Getty Center. The first image was the working image for 2 paintings, and the other is a view of Robert Irwin’s garden.

5. Dinny the Dinosaur (1964), 50800 Seminole Drive, Cabazon. built by Knott’s Berry Farm sculpture Claude K. Bell
From Los Angeles, it is 13 miles before Palm Springs just off highway 10, exit at Cabazon. It was built as a road side attraction and that is what it is. It is always that windy.