LOS ANGELES | METRO Project Rundown 2.0 (non-downtown)

[Muji]

I spent a little time along Wilshire today taking a couple of photos. I'll start off with a small update on the Vermont, where they're starting to do some work on the parking/retail podium.



View from a few blocks east


Things are wrapping up on the much-despised Wilshire/La Brea apartments. (If you're not a fan of TCA, you should probably stop reading now)



Too many colors!


La Brea Avenue side, with some nice street trees

[colemonkee]

I agree with you on the "two many colors" critique, especially that light green, which is so painfully obvious of an attempt to mimic patina on copper (and quite poorly), but I actually like that glass wall above the entrance. It's the one redeeming part of this horrible, horrible design. Too bad it's buried back from most street views.

Originally Posted by Muji

Too many colors!

[brudy]

That is one ugly building. That glass area, while nice, is just lipstick on a pig.

[colemonkee]

^ Ha! Yes, that's exactly what it is.

[112597jorge]

Nice, glass entrance, palms, trees, and retail. that's it

[tommaso]

Wilshire/La Brea

Wouldn't it be simpler to build a brick building? Even one contiguous design could be easily delivered.

[Gram3000]

And cue Edluva lol

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

I agree with you on the "two many colors" critique, especially that light green, which is so painfully obvious of an attempt to mimic patina on copper (and quite poorly), but I actually like that glass wall above the entrance. It's the one redeeming part of this horrible, horrible design. Too bad it's buried back from most street views.

lol i felt as though i was reading my own post. i agree with every word colemonkee.

[StethJeff]

I agree that Wilshire/La Brea is a mess. But I don't see how it's all that different from 1111 Wilshire, which is for the most part beloved by SSPers. Am I missing something here?

[DistrictDirt]

Originally Posted by StethJeff

I agree that Wilshire/La Brea is a mess. But I don't see how it's all that different from 1111 Wilshire, which is for the most part beloved by SSPers. Am I missing something here?

StehJeff- I think you've made that comparison before, but I just don't see it. To break down some concrete differences:

1. 1111 Wilshire has more windows and less stucco than Wilshire/La Brea. If you could calculate the % of the surface that is glass, 1111's number would be much higher. Wilshire La Brea has tiny prison windows in comparison.
2. The colors on 1111 are bright and somewhat attractive, IMO. The colors on Wilshire/La Brea are washed out pastels
3. Wilshire La Brea is much larger scale than 1111 Wilshire. It feels like a monolith which makes the issues with its appearance that much visible. 1111 Wilshire is in scale with the rest of the surrounding buildings.
4. 1111 Wilshire doesn't have weird wave-shaped asshats. Enough said.

[StethJeff]

Originally Posted by DistrictDirt

StehJeff- I think you've made that comparison before, but I just don't see it. To break down some concrete differences:

1. 1111 Wilshire has more windows and less stucco than Wilshire/La Brea. If you could calculate the % of the surface that is glass, 1111's number would be much higher. Wilshire La Brea has tiny prison windows in comparison.
2. The colors on 1111 are bright and somewhat attractive, IMO. The colors on Wilshire/La Brea are washed out pastels
3. Wilshire La Brea is much larger scale than 1111 Wilshire. It feels like a monolith which makes the issues with its appearance that much visible. 1111 Wilshire is in scale with the rest of the surrounding buildings.
4. 1111 Wilshire doesn't have weird wave-shaped asshats. Enough said.

Sorry, I don't mean to be the citywatch of 1111 Wilshire. I guess I just never saw the appeal of that structure. I appreciate your explanation though.

[tommaso]

It's impossible to judge density. But, where concerned citizens gather, aesthetics can be challenged to a more pleasing sight. However, gathering support for design standards requires more than a City council motion. Angelenos must take matters into their own hands and apply pressure where developers must react. You can only accomplish a higher standard by first gathering public support for stricter design minimums on buildings of large scale.

[GuardianChief]

Guys, is Glendale part of Los Angeles? I know it forms part of L.A. county, however, I can't figure it out what are real borders of Los Angeles as a city like that ones in Chicago for instance.

I'm European who often works in ''L.A.'' (international banking), but stationed in Glendale while I'm out there. Speaking to local people, they claim not to be part of Los Angeles, although jurisdiction itself recognize territory of Glendale as some sort of Angeles neighborhood, something more similar to Beverly Hills.

So, when I'm in Glendale, where am I in fact - in L.A. or Glendale?

[bobbyv]

Originally Posted by GuardianChief

Guys, is Glendale part of Los Angeles? I know it forms part of L.A. county, however, I can't figure it out what are real borders of Los Angeles as a city like that ones in Chicago for instance.

I'm European who often works in ''L.A.'' (international banking), but stationed in Glendale while I'm out there. Speaking to local people, they claim not to be part of Los Angeles, although jurisdiction itself recognize territory of Glendale as some sort of Angeles neighborhood, something more similar to Beverly Hills.

So, when I'm in Glendale, where am I in fact - in L.A. or Glendale?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glendale,_California

[colemonkee]

Guardian, when you're in Glendale, you're in a separate city technically, but Glendale is definitely part of the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area.

On the subject of Wilshire/La Brea vs. 1111 Wilshire, I don't think anyone would argue that 1111 Wilshire is as bad as Wilshire/La Brea (most house fires aren't as bad as Wilshire/La Brea). However, that does not mean 1111 Wilshire is a good design. It's just somewhat better than the absolute worst. But it still suffers from what I call "vomit" design: where the designer just vomits a bunch of design and color aesthetics onto the page and fails to edit those back into a cohesive work. In my opinion, it has far too many colors (though I agree the brighter colors are better than Wilshire/La Brea), and the glass that is there not only doesn't match the other windows (green tint vs. no tint, which turns "blue" when reflecting the sky), but it's mostly spandrel glass, which only masks the fact that the actual transparent, acting window portions of the glass are the same "prison window" size as Wilshire/La Brea. Despite having a relatively simple and clean massing, it manages to be so visually busy that it sticks out like a sore thumb in it's built environment.

On another note, I drove down Wilshire yesterday, and there are a couple of lots screaming for highrises that, if The Vermont does well, could eventually get them. Wilshire and Virgil and Wilshire and Hobart. Both are within 3 blocks of a Red Line station, so they could be considered TOD's, and hopefully qualify for density variances. The views for both lots, if developed into highrises, would be pretty amazing.

[Wilcal]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

Guardian, when you're in Glendale, you're in a separate city technically, but Glendale is definitely part of the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area.

On the subject of Wilshire/La Brea vs. 1111 Wilshire, I don't think anyone would argue that 1111 Wilshire is as bad as Wilshire/La Brea (most house fires aren't as bad as Wilshire/La Brea). However, that does not mean 1111 Wilshire is a good design. It's just somewhat better than the absolute worst. But it still suffers from what I call "vomit" design: where the designer just vomits a bunch of design and color aesthetics onto the page and fails to edit those back into a cohesive work. In my opinion, it has far too many colors (though I agree the brighter colors are better than Wilshire/La Brea), and the glass that is there not only doesn't match the other windows (green tint vs. no tint, which turns "blue" when reflecting the sky), but it's mostly spandrel glass, which only masks the fact that the actual transparent, acting window portions of the glass are the same "prison window" size as Wilshire/La Brea. Despite having a relatively simple and clean massing, it manages to be so visually busy that it sticks out like a sore thumb in it's built environment.

On another note, I drove down Wilshire yesterday, and there are a couple of lots screaming for highrises that, if The Vermont does well, could eventually get them. Wilshire and Virgil and Wilshire and Hobart. Both are within 3 blocks of a Red Line station, so they could be considered TOD's, and hopefully qualify for density variances. The views for both lots, if developed into highrises, would be pretty amazing.

Colemonkee your analogy of bodily functions to the architectural design process was pretty funny--good post!

[brudy]

111 Wilshire is ok. Not great, but not terrible either. It at least looks cohesive. Wilshire/La Brea is just a vomitous mass. I imagine what they were trying to do was use different finishes, shapes, and masses to break up what is a fairly large building. But the end result looks like what I build in 3rd grade with wood blocks. It's truly awful and, in the spirit of fall, a heinous cornucopia of architectural food poisoning. We've seen a lot of very bland designs lately, but very few have actually been ugly. It's a total trainwreck - so much so that I can't stop looking at it.

[mousquet]

Just a little note.

Narrow windows are explained by requirements of energy-efficiency in my region. One may easily figure that glass causes heat dissipation when weather's still often pretty cold from november to march. Yet, I don't really see anything like such constraints in LA where wide double-glazed windows might bring some satisfying results, no matter what the orientation of windows. Over here, I read windows oriented to the north usually had to be small nowadays, unless using some sort of (certainly more expensive) triple-glazed, high quality glass.

Orientations to the east or the west would cause the opposite problem in spring/summer. Exposed to the burning sunlight, even more than windows oriented to the south and even over here, they'd require some brise soleil to help one in not craving air-conditioning. I'm rather surprised to see no brise soleil in southern CA. It yet can be something cool to a facade, if carefully designed.

[Illithid Dude]

Curbed reports that this project has started in Hollywood.

[bobbyv]

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

Curbed reports that this project has started in Hollywood.

That really sucks when you see the buildings that it will be displacing:
http://goo.gl/maps/Jpf7s

With so many damn parking lots in this city why do they have to take away little gems like these ones