l.a.'s invisible builder - domestic air purifier

This is a gray day in the center of Parker, almost 50-year-
The old headquarters of the Los Angeles Police Department, the police and the customers are in a very-
Ground of crushed terrazzo.
This place seems to be completely joyful.
Until the most recent morning, Chris Nichols, a short 31-year-
An old protector with a bow tie and a grinning smile, walks through the front door like a child entering the See factory.
"It's in perfect condition," Nichols whispered . " He is scanning the walls and ceiling.
"Modern companies like this have received such bad reviews.
But look at this.
Like the World Expo!
"* That's what Welton Becket means crazy.
That is why in the days to come many admirers of architects will celebrate his centennial (
A few months late)
He took to the streets and marveled at many of his works.
In 1969, 1933-year-old Beckett and his construction company staff designed dozens of corporate and civic landmarks in Los Angeles and hundreds around the world.
Finding his work on the skyline of the city is like finding a Volkswagen on a highway, or Hal Holbrook playing president late at night --
Night play: you may not be able to find him, he may not look the same every time, but he is there.
There, there and there.
The Music Center was designed by Beckett. 1964-67)
In the center of Los Angeles, there is also the general Petroleum Building on the sixth and Flower streets. -
The largest office building in Southern California was built in 1947. (
Now it's in the attic. )
His company name is on the record building at the Capitol.
Although the staff member Louis nadov was praised for being cylindrical)
Hollywood's Cinerama Dome (
Cinerama dome now known as Arclight). Becket master-
The vast century urban complex has been planned since the 1959 s.
He took the Beverly Hilton Hotel (1955)
Santa Monica Civic Hall (1958-59)
And to brocklepasadena (
1947. it's Macy's now)
A solemn car
Some architectural historians attribute the post-war suburban department store to them as a major creation of a building type. He co-
A lot of design
Like Streamline ne Pan-
Pacific Auditorium (
Since being burned and razed to the ground)
In 1935, 26 years later, in collaboration with Charles Luckman, William Pereira and Paul Williams, on the spider at Los Angeles International Airport --
Despite such a huge output, Beckham's work has not received much respect.
At the Park Center, designed by Beckett in 1955, police officials had lobbied for demolition and reconstruction for at least six years, thinking the existing buildings were out of date.
In the latest version of the authoritative Los Angeles: Guide to architecture, authors Robert Winter and David Gebhard warned, "like most corporate modern buildings in 1950 and 1960, the park center is not very old.
"But when Nichols and his modernist brothers see the Parker Center, they will love a dozen blue ones --
Tile column in front, brass fixture, glass wall, 20-
The foot vertical blinds in the hall, as well as the mosaic tile murals specially commissioned by Bernard Rosenthal in front of bronze and Joseph Young's interior.
They saw an architect at the height of his career who defined what modern Los Angeles would look like.
When designers miss the medium term more and morecentury look--
In fact, separate the real appreciation from the kitsch
Collecting money is not an easy task. -
The time has come for Beckham to rediscover.
"The greatest building in Welton Becket is part of Los Angeles, just like London in Christopher Wren, "Alan Hess, author of Google and Viva Las Vegas, wrote in a new article by the Los Angeles Water Conservancy Association.
Hess believes that Beckett's architecture is "inseparable from the way we see or think of L"A.
"The architect's centennial was born on August, and Beckett's family, friends and admirers gathered to celebrate in the Trader Vic's.
But for activists at the Los Angeles Water Conservancy modern committee, there seems to be more public involvement.
So on Tuesday, ModCom invited Beckett's family and friends and the public to come to Hess's lecture.
Discuss and a few movie clips on the table at Cinerama Dome in Arclight.
On Saturday, the organizers arranged a visit to three key projects. -Bullocks (now Macy's)
Pasadena Music Center and back
War House on Wilshire Avenue and Highland Avenue--
Link by a brochure that presents itself
Guide the driving route through more Beckham buildings.
There are about 55 on Sunday.
Ticket donors for Ticket and conservancy will travel on a full-day bus (
There is a long waiting list by the end of February)
Designed to explore the city's commercial buildings and the central role of Beckett.
However, there are more than one way to investigate Beckett's heritage.
The calendar weekend held a rolling Symposium of its own a few days ago.
We invited Nichols, who served as chairman of ModCom's outreach work when he was not attracted to the daily work of Los Angeles magazine editors.
Our name is Laura Connaught, who has a master's degree in architectural history and is a business license for a company called architectural tour L. A.
A shiny black 1962 Cadillac.
Massino admitted that during the three years she led the tour here, no one asked her for Welton Becket's itinerary. (
The most popular are Hollywood, Modernist Schindler and Neutra homes in Silver Lake. )
But what better time than it is now?
What more cars than 1962 Cadillac (
There is a separate lighter for each seat)
Recall the biggest days of Beckham?
Nicholas served Massino's clients on the steering wheel, with Nicholas handing out trivia, old postcards and photos around her, followed by a photographer and journalist who climbed from the Beckett building to the Beckett building.
"Ah," said Connaught, approaching the Music Center.
When its square and three performing arts venues increased from 1964 to 1967, with the opening of William Pereira's Los Angeles County Art Museum on Wilshire Avenue, the event was welcomed as a time of citizenship and culture.
The music center, with its inverted pool, pale stone walls and soft curves, is seen as a bold statement of modern style.
But now it has a new, daunting neighbor: Frank.
Sparkling curling stainless steel in the lidsteel-
Walt Disney Concert Hall for ribbon-
Cuts in October.
The steel ghost in Gauri is nearby, Masino said, "Some people may think the music center looks out of date.
But I think it just adds to the beauty of the area.
"* Beckett is not an aesthetic theorist.
Instead, he is good at making friends with industry leaders and keeping them as repeat customers.
One of the reasons is that he can estimate the budget accurately. (
Becket believes the Great Depression has improved his financial skills. )
The other is his "overall design" Creed, which means using technological advances to provide a wider range of services than most architect offices can handle.
The third is his stylistic flexibility.
Unlike many famous architects before and after, Beckett has built his empire by insisting that each project meets the tastes and needs of its clients, rather than showing the architect's unique emotions.
At the beginning of his career, the number of residences he lived in was relatively small, as was 1950 and 1960, and when busy six weeks might find Beckham with three heads of state (
Like he did in America. S.
At the end of 1953, Najib in Egypt and Batista in Cuba.
Author William Dudley Hunter in his 1972 book on Beckham, general design: the building by Welton Beckham and colleagues depicts the architect as a grumpy person for golf and swimming pools.
He was born and raised in Seattle and played quarterback in the Washington University football team. -
It is reported that in 140 pounds--
After the start-
Graduate student in French architecture.
From 1933, he turned Los Angeles into his home.
Until 1949, his company worked with his best friend, Walter Woodman.
When Woodman died of a heart attack, Beckett went alone and his client list was provided by the friendship of countless Hollywood stars, industrial leaders and other prominent figures
He designed a house for him in Indian Wells).
"Some architects designed to adapt to their own fantasies, the cost soared and there was no functional," Becket complained in an interview with 1958 . ".
In the following interview, he went further: "We design for our customers . "
"I can't see why I'm expressing Welton Becket.
Cadillac passes through the old oil building on Flower Street--
Where Massino reminds us, how Becket finds a way to build a light skyscraper by changing the concrete mixing formula-
Then came to Wilshire, and after a series of tall and wide small market buildings, thousands of Angels passed through them without hesitation every day, including the huge 1969 fair living building located at 3435 Wilshire; and the 22-
Story traveler insurance building at 3600 Wilshire.
However, in Wilshire and Highland, the parade of the office building was interrupted, where we met a small ranch house located at 4950 Wilshire, mostly hidden by landscaping
Nichols explained that this generated a 57-year-
The old souvenir program from his recruit bag is afterWar House.
Fritz Burns, a pioneer developer in the San Fernando Valley, conceived the project and recruited Beckett to show the Californian how they should live in the post-war world.
Squinting at the outside details of its courtyard fireplace and slate, you can begin to imagine its 1946 openings, as well as an estimated 1 million visitors walking through, gaze at domestic electronic air purifiers like Precipitron, which are slightly larger than refrigerators.
As a model house, the property has entered commercial use after several years of service.
The interior has now been transformed beyond recognition, with a German social club and a Korean newspaper.
The precipitation is gone.
* As of 1969, Beckett's company is one of the largest construction companies in the world, with more than 400 employees and from Havana to Cairo (Hiltons)to Warsaw (a U. S. embassy)
Attend 1964 World Expo in New York (
He designed exhibits for Ford and General Electric).
After his death, Beckett's company went through another 20 years and was then acquired by Minni aporius.
Headquartered in the company now known as Ellerbe Becket. (
Beckett's son, Bruce, has his own construction company in Los Angeles and helped the water department organize the memorial service. )
Little Babe's granddaughter, Alisa, was born the year the architect died, recalling that when she was still young, "It seems that if there weren't at least a few of my grandfather's buildings along the way, we will never cross the town.
But I never really got it as a child.
Alisa's 26-year-old confessed: "Grow Up"year-
"According to a lot of people, these designs seem to be out of date, which is embarrassing for me," said the old sister Alexandra.
"There is still a lot of new respect.
Cadillac travels from Wilshire to the Capitol building (
Security guards block access to the lobby)
Then to the Sunset Avenue complex now known as the Cinerama Dome of Arclight, where the manager shared the rich details about the design and construction of the dome.
But time is tight.
Our tour is destined to stop after these sites and leave more than 100 unexplored places.
Nichols is philosophical.
"Beckham's experience includes some great personal work," he said . "
"But it's actually about how a company is responsible for the look of the city.
* About three years ago, after years, both of Beckham's granddaughters moved back to Los Angeles.
Once they met ModCom mavens of the Los Angeles Water Conservancy Association, their grandfather looked different from their city.
Now Alexandra Beckett often talks with members of ModCom and raises objections to future demolition and renovation efforts.
Alisa Becket, who manages the museum of contemporary art tourism project, eagerly hooked up her favorite building: Pan
Pacific Auditorium;
Bulldog in Pasadena
McCulloch House with Rancho Mirage, built in the middle
The man, who is already in his 50 s, continues to import London Bridge into Arizona. The house (
Now in the hands of the new owners, their renovation plan has alerted the protectors)
Electronic equipment is everywhere, including "human lazy Susan" in the backyard, to facilitate tanning.
"There are so many buildings," Alisa Becket said . ".
"I have begun to feel that there is a lot of connection with the city.
You hear people complain that there is no history or culture in LA, but it really has--
Including the building designed by my grandfather.
There is no doubt that they are out of date.
But they have become treasures of the city.
Times researcher Schneider has also contributed to the article.