In the early 1940s, Terminal Island housed a vibrant community of nearly 3,000 Japanese and Japanese-American residents. It had grown out of a small Japanese fishing village whose settlers helped launch a booming industry for canned tuna. The island later starred in one of the darkest chapters of U.S. history, when its residents became the […]

Well before 1940, Los Angeles architects (both native-born and immigrant) had developed a free-thinking, exploratory Modernism blended with commercial pragmatism that generated new forms, new architectures, and a new decentralized city. Bullocks Wilshire (John and Donald Parkinson, 1929). Photo from Conservancy archives Southern California had been nurturing a culture of architectural experimentation as early as 1900. […]

The decade of the 1950s established Southern California’s reputation for creativity in architecture. The city’s residential architecture gained international fame, largely due to the Case Study program sponsored by Arts+Architecture magazine. Through Sunset magazine, however, California design spread even more widely and popularly. The region’s growth was also gaining attention nationally; its burgeoning population led […]

Art Deco Dimensions was founded in 2005 by John Thomas.  Mr. Thomas is a noted Art Deco Historian, author, lecturer, and period preservation/design consultant specializing in the Art Deco and Streamline Moderne period 1925-1940.

One of the most influential architects of the twentieth century, Richard Neutra helped define modernism in Southern California and around the world...

Since 1984, the Conservancy’s Modern Committee (ModCom) has been a trailblazer in preserving Modern resources throughout Los Angeles County. Our Modern Committee has a strong track record in Modern preservation, and we’re launching a new era with creative new programs and activities. Modern Masters Awards ModCom presented two Modern Masters Awards at the 2015 holiday […]

Cruising down today’s Ventura Boulevard at 45 miles per hour, it’s difficult to imagine its dusty beginnings as a stretch of El Camino Real, the old dirt road that once connected each of the California Missions. Even beyond this centuries-old pedigree, this 16-mile route is rich with twentieth-century San Fernando Valley lore and fascinating architecture to […]

Pomona contains a remarkable diversity of historic resources ranging from adobe to Victorian-era nineteenth century residences to postwar modernism of the twentieth century. The city adopted its historic preservation ordinance in 1988 and has designated both local landmarks and historic districts. As a preservation incentive, the city offers the popular Mills Acts property tax abatement program. […]

While our basic research process has remained the same since 2003, in 2014 we created a new, more quantifiable scoring system to clarify how we determine grades and identify areas of improvement. Scoring System This year, we created a new scoring system to clarify how Report Card grades are determined and identify areas of improvement. After extensive […]

Join us at 11 a.m. on Saturday, October 19, for this special presentation. Admission to this lecture is available only to those registered for our Culver City at a Crossroads event. LocationHelms Design Center8745 Washington Blvd.Culver City, CA 90232 Presenters will discuss the role the film industry played in developing Culver City’s identity as the “Heart […]