Art and Architecture | Los Angeles Conservancy
Home Savings and Loan, Hollywood (Millard Sheets, 1968). Photo by Larry Underhill

Architecture of the late twentieth century often reflected the influence of the contemporary art of its time.

Architects and artists inspired each other and collaborated together, from designers such as Millard Sheets integrating art into his civic architecture and Home Savings and Loan branches, to architects like Frank Gehry, who in 1976 said, “My approach to architecture is different. I search out the work of artists, and use art as a means of inspiration.”

As natural companions, architecture and art often go hand in hand in the Modern architecture of Greater Los Angeles.

Valley Beth Shalom
Photo by Jessica Hodgdon/L.A. Conservancy

Valley Beth Shalom

Howard R. Lane
A sweeping Mid-Century Modern design of brick, glass, and concrete designed by Encino architect Howard R. Lane and including a cornerstone quarried on Mt. Zion.
Photo courtesy Architectural Resources Group

Valley Plaza Tower

Honnold & Rex
A distinctive Valley landmark that was among the first skyscrapers built in L.A. after the 1957 repeal of a 150-foot height limit, this Corporate International style building dominated the North Hollywood landscape for years.
Photo courtesy Architectural Resources Group

Walt Disney Studios

Michael Graves
Where the Greeks used caryatids to support their temple roofs, architect Michael Graves used Disney's seven dwarfs to support this Postmodern sandstone temple.
Photo by Adrian Scott Fine/L.A. Conservancy

Wayfarers Chapel

Lloyd Wright
This iconic chapel is a one-of-a-kind expression of Organic Modern architecture.
Photo by Jessica Hodgdon/L.A. Conservancy

Wells Fargo

Frank Gehry
A deconstructed version of a building looking at first more like a drawing of a building than the thing itself, Gehry's design fragments the building into separate parts that play with light, shadow, and reflection.
West Los Angeles Civic Center
Photo courtesy Architectural Resources Group

West Los Angeles Civic Center

Allison & Rible
Albert Criz
Built between 1957 and 1965, the civic center reflects the postwar growth of municipal services and the general optimism of the period, exemplified by its eye-catching Mid-Century Modern design.

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Pacific Standard Time Presents: Modern Architecture in L.A. - An Initiative of the Getty

Curating the City: Modern Architecture in L.A. is part of Pacific Standard Time Presents: Modern Architecture in L.A. This collaboration, initiated by the Getty, brings together seventeen cultural institutions from April through July 2013 for a wide-ranging look at the postwar built environment of the city as a whole, from its famous residential architecture to its vast freeway network, revealing the city’s development and ongoing impact in new ways. Major support for this project has been provided by the Getty Foundation. pacificstandardtimepresents.org.