Modern Skyline Walking Tour | Los Angeles Conservancy
Photo by Larry Underhill

Modern Skyline Walking Tour

Modern Skyline Walking Tour

Saturday, June 10, 2023 - 10:30am Register

Think skyscrapers aren’t historic? Think again! After seeing how downtown L.A. has evolved over the past century, you’ll see our beloved skyline in a whole new way. 

How did a Victorian neighborhood become a booming hub of commerce and finance? Learn the fascinating story of Bunker Hill’s evolution, explore some of L.A.’s newest landmarks, and see how old and new architecture co-exists. 

You’ll get up close to the public art tucked away within the plazas of these sleek high-rises, and see details that you’ve never noticed before.

Note: Click on the getting there tab for more information about our Covid-19 safety policies. 

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Los Angeles Conservancy recognizes the Gabrieliño Tongva as the past, present, and future caretakers of this land, water, and natural resources in the unceded territory of Los Angeles.

Walk-ins Not Accepted
Meeting Location

Pershing Square, a one-block park located between Olive, Hill, Fifth, and Sixth Streets at 532 S. Olive Street, Los Angeles, 90013.

Covid-19 Safety and Important Policies

  • Tour will run rain or shine.
  • The L.A. Conservancy highly recommends but does not require wearing a face mask.
  • The L.A. Conservancy highly recommends but does not require being vaccinated against Covid-19.
  • Social distancing of at least six feet should be maintained between L.A. Conservancy docents, staff, and other individuals who have not been isolating together.
  • You can change your reservation date if you contact us at info@laconservancy.org at least 24 hours before your original reservation date.
  • No pets.
  • This tour is not recommended for young children.
  • Strollers not recommended.
  • If a member of your party is in a wheelchair, please let us know in advance by emailing info@laconservancy.org.
All participants in the Los Angeles Conservancy-sponsored Walking Tours knowingly and freely accept and assume all risks, both known and unknown, and AGREE TO RELEASE, DEFEND, INDEMNIFY, NOT SUE, AND HOLD HARMLESS the Los Angeles Conservancy, its principals, officers, employees, volunteers, sponsors, agents and other participants from any and all claims, damages (including medical expenses and attorneys’ fees), injuries and expenses arising out of, or resulting from your voluntary attendance/participation in Walking Tours.
 

Featured Location(s)

Gas Company Tower
Photo by Annie Laskey/L.A. Conservancy
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

Gas Company Tower

The 1991 Gas Company Tower rises in a series of cliff-like setbacks and inverted corners, with an elliptical top of blue glass symbolizing the trademark blue flame of the building’s primary tenant
Photo courtesy Architectural Resources Group
Claud Beelman

The Standard, Downtown LA

One of the finest examples of the Corporate Moderne style in Los Angeles, this 1955 building now thrives as a hip hotel.
Pegasus Apartments
Photo courtesy Architectural Resources Group
Wurdeman & Becket

Pegasus Apartments

Representing a significant stage in the evolution of the high-rise office buildings of Los Angeles, the 1949 Mobil Oil/General Petroleum Building was one of Wurdeman and Becket's first major office commissions.
Photo by Annie Laskey/L.A. Conservancy
Allison & Allison

The CalEdison

One of the first all-electrically heated and cooled buildings constructed in the western United States, this fourteen-story, steel-framed 1931 treasure follows a classically inspired Art Deco design.
Photo by Michael Locke
Lawrence Halprin
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

Wells Fargo Center

A twist on the Corporate International "glass box" design, the towers, completed in 1983, have parallelogram-shaped bases with sharp angles soaring into the sky while trees, fountains, and rough-hewn granite give the atrium a park-like atmosphere.
Photo by Jessica Hodgdon/L.A. Conservancy
Lawrence Halprin

Bunker Hill Steps

The ties between downtown L.A. and its Bunker Hill origins have been tenuous at best. The Bunker Hill Steps, built in 1989, aimed to remedy that.
Photo by Annie Laskey/Los Angeles Conservancy
A. C. Martin & Associates

City National Plaza

Completed in 1972 for the headquarters of Atlantic Richfield Company, these dark towers flanking a striking plaza typify the corporate architecture of the time.