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.

Federal Building
Photo by Nigel Lo

Federal Building

Charles Luckman Associates
Clad in white concrete onto which public service messages were once projected including appeals for purchase of savings bonds, this cold-war era jewel exemplifies Corporate Late Modernism at its finest.
First African Methodist Episcopal Church
Photo by Ysa Adams / Incite Photography

First African Methodist Episcopal Church

Paul R. Williams
The Late Modern-style building was designed by Paul R. Williams, the first African American member of the American Institute of Architects and a lifetime member of the First A.M.E. church.
Four-Level Interchange
Photo courtesy Architectural Resources Group

Four-Level Interchange

Architect Unknown
As the only interchange in the region to be certified as a civil engineering landmark, its robust elegance is a true aesthetic achievement.
Photo by Robert Mangurian

Gagosian Art Gallery and Apartments

Studio Works
From the street it's hard to see the splendor of this nondescript, industrial-looking building—that is, until you spy an aerial view revealing its secret heart: a circular interior courtyard, wholly open to the sky.
Photo by Adrian Scott Fine/L.A. Conservancy

Gainsburg House

Lloyd Wright
In the foothills below the Angeles National Forest lies a geometrical wonder.
Hansen Dam
Photo by Barry Mulling

Hansen Dam

U.S. Department of Engineering
At the time of its construction the dam was the largest of its type in the world, built by a workforce of nearly 1,000 and a stunning illustration of the functional and aesthetic power of good design.
Haugh Performing Arts Center
Photo courtesy Architectural Resources Group

Haugh Performing Arts Center

Neptune & Thomas Associates
A sprawling building in Late Modern style with some hints of Brutalism, the Center hosts up to 200 performances each year and was a major achievement for the first junior college in L.A. County.

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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.