Fascinating Buildings in Downtown Los Angeles

This page includes several buildings with wonderful grillworks, scrollworks, and outside sculptures. The USC Geography department has an excellent site called Downtown Los Angeles Walking Tour, which has a tremendous amount information on downtown buildings.

5th St.:

• Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Fifth and Figueroa. John Portman, 1976.

• Los Angeles Public Library, Fifth and Flower. Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue and Carleton Winslow, 1925; Norman Pfeiffer, 1993.

7th St.:

• Fine Arts Building, built in 1927. 811 7th St.

9th St.:

• Embassy Hotel, 9th and Grand

• Stillwell Hotel, 838 Grand Ave

Olympic Blvd and South Park:

• Standard Oil Building, Olympic between Hope and Flower. 1928, George W. Kelham, architect.

• Petroleum Building, Olympic and Figueroa. 1925.

• Mayan Theater, 1040 S. Hill St. 1927, Morgan, Walls, Clements, architects, bas reliefs by Francisco Cornejo.
  • Background information on the bas relief sculptures
  • A brief biography of the artist

• Morgan, Walls, Clements Architects, The Belasco, 1050 S. Hill Street, 1926.

• Edgar Walters, facade panel, 1930. The old Federal Reserve Building, 409 Olympic Blvd.
  • Background information on the panel
  • A brief biography of the artist

Olive St.:

• Heron Building, 510 6th St. (at Olive). 1920-21, Dodd and Richards, architects.

• Description of buildings around Pershing Square.

Broadway St.:

• George Wyman, Bradbury Building, 304 South Broadway (south-east)

• Albert C. Martin and William Lee Woollett, Million Dollar Theater, 1918, with Joseph Mora's external sculptures.

• S. Charles Lee, Los Angeles Theater, 1931. Broadway and 6th.

• G. Albert Lansburgh, architect. Domingo Mora, sculptor, Palace Theater, 1911. Broadway and 6th.

• Claude Beelman, Ninth and Broadway Building, 1929. 850 S. Broadway.

• Claude Beelman, Eastern Columbia Building, 1929. 849 S. Broadway.

• G. Albert Lansburgh, architect,The Orpheum, 1926. Broadway and 9th.

• Walker and Eisen, United Artists, 1927. A. Howard Crane, Theater designer. Broadway and 9th Street.

• History of theaters on Broadway, from a brochure published by the Los Angeles Conservancy in 1986.

Spring St.:

• Los Angeles Times Building, Spring, 1st, and Broadway. Gordon B. Kaufmann, 1931-1935; Rowland H. Crawford, 1948 (10 story addition on the northwest corner of South Spring Street and West 3rd Street); William L. Pereira, 1970-1973 (6 story addition to the west of the original building).
  • details of facade sculptures, by Merrell Gage, 1935
  • Historical background on the facade sculptures
  • Brief biography of the artist
  • A short bibliography on the sculptures and other public art works in the Los Angeles Times Building.

• Banco Popular, originally the Herman W. Hellman Building (1903), Stained glass, 354 S. Spring St. Another example of stained glass ceiling at this location. This building is a historic landmark.

• Los Angeles Design Center, originally the Title Insurance and Trust Company building. Spring and 4th St.
  • Description of Hugo Balin's mosaic Protection, Trust, Fidelity
  • Details of Hugo Balin's mosaic Protection, Trust, Fidelity
  • Detail of entrance ceiling with chandelier

• Arcade building, 541 Spring St (south of 5th)

• Samuel Lunden, John Parkinson, Donald Parkinson, Los Angeles Stock Exchange, 1929. Spring Street and 6th. The facade of the building features bas reliefs by Salvatore Cartaino Scarpitta depicting Finance, Production, and Research and Discovery.
  • Background information on the bas-relief sculptures above the main entrance
  • A short biography of the artist
  • A short bibliography on the bas-relief sculptures
  • Doors of the Stock Exchange building

Main St.

• Old St. Vibiana Cathedral, 1876. At 2nd St.
  • Facade
  • South wall
  • Bell steeple
  • Statue of a saint (St. Mark?)
  • Statue of a saint (St. John?)
  • North gate

• Rosslyn Hotel, Main and 5th

El Pueblo:

• Avila Adobe, 1818. Restored after the 1971 earthquake. Oldest existing house in Los Angeles.

• Facade of Plaza Church

• Masonic Temple.

• Merced Theater, first Los Angeles theater.

• Pico House. Photograph of the Pico House taken in 1958.

Walking Tour of Downtown

This working tour has been made available courtesy of the USC department of Geography. It features information and photographs of many buildings in the downtown area.