The Public Realm | Los Angeles Conservancy
Photo courtesy Architectural Resources Group

As Los Angeles County's growth exploded after World War II and neighborhoods and cities sprang up where there were none before, architecture became critical in creating a sense of community and meeting the needs of everyday life.

Museums, schools, churches, libraries, civic centers, banks, hospitals, parks, and entertainment venues were important symbols of place and identity. Architects had the rare opportunity to help create the building blocks of life for a booming population.

Los Angeles Public Library, Canoga Park Branch (former)
Photo courtesy Architectural Resources Group

CDI Early Learning Center

Bowerman & Hobson
A destination for readers and zigzag roof-lovers alike, the Canoga Park Library was the first Mid-Century Modern-style library to be named a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.
Photo courtesy Architectural Resources Group

Century City Medical Plaza

Cesar Pelli
DMJM
Anthony Lumsden
Architectually elegant, economical and eco-friendly decades before it was in vogue, the Century City Medical Plaza would serve as a benchmark for corporate architecture for years after its completion.
Photo by Michael Locke

Chapel of the Jesus Ethic

Culver Heaton
The spiritual centerpiece of the Foundation of Niscience complex, the chapel is a modern nod to the concept of visibly integrating the natural and the built environments.
Photo by Michael Locke

Cinerama Dome

Welton Becket & Associates
Of all the vintage theatres in L.A., none stand out quite like the Cinerama Dome, a very rare example of an intact Cinerama theatre and the first concrete geodesic dome in the world.
Eagle Rock Recreation Center
Photo by Tom Davies

Eagle Rock Recreation Center

Richard Neutra
Before gaining fame for his residential designs, Richard Neutra built a rec center, implementing it with ideas he was still exploring for his house designs

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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.