Looking at the above building and seeing the (now bricked-up) side windows reminded me of a question I had posed to myself for years.
As it will illustrate the matter better, observe below the side windows of a building on New High St.
gsv
I had noticed that early brick buildings, say pre-1930, had such windows which were not strictly rectangular but which rather were shallowly arched at the top. It suddenly occurred to me that perhaps this was due to the needs of unreinforced masonry construction. I looked into this, and that turns out to be exactly the case. For structural reasons, the arch is needed or the bricks above, with no support due to the hole which the window makes, would press down and the wall would experience some degree of collapse. The arch even has a name: "Jack Arch." When you see these windows, it thus indicates a building of unreinforced masonry, and most likely (in So Cal) dating to before the Long Beach Earthquake of 1933.
I wonder what the last unreinforced masonry building built in Los Angeles was; and I wonder what the last unreinforced masonry building built
that is still standing in Los Angeles is (not necessarily the same building!)?