TIMELESSNESS: THE MANY LIVES OF THE BRADBURY BUILDING

March 23, 2018

Atrium of the Bradbury Building (photo from ruebarue.com)

In 1893, architect Sumner Hunt served up the beloved Bradbury Building, a jewel in the gritty South Broadway area of downtown Los Angeles. To talk about the building’s elegance is akin to commenting on the freshness of the sushi from world-acclaimed chef Jiro One.

Rather than discuss the obvious beauty of the Bradbury, I am more fascinated by the architecture’s numerous chapters of evolution and interpretation. There are many lives to this iconic building, from film to music videos. Why and how?

upper left: (500) Days of Summer (2009); upper right: The Artist (2011); lower left: Shockproof (1949); lower right: Blade Runner (1982)

Following the Bradbury Building’s 1971 Landmark status from the National Register of Historic Places, the building fell into sad disrepair. In 1982, the sci-fi cult classic, Blade Runner, exploited the deteriorating building, reinterpreting the once glorious Renaissance Revival style, into a goth dystopian backdrop. Prior to this, film noir of the 40’s and 50’s appropriated the building for haunting backdrops.

The Bradbury Building also found its way into dozens of movies of all types, from Chinatown in 1974 to Lethal Weapon in 1988, from Pay It Forward in 2000, to (500) Days of Summer in 2009.

For television, the Bradbury offered its architecture for the 60’s series, Outer Limits, as well as to Mission Impossible, from the 70’s. In the 80’s, the building represented the performing arts high school in Fame, and more recently, a setting for CSI NY. In both of these, this Los Angeles building was ironically and oddly the best choice to represent the backdrop of New York City.

upper left: Janet Jackson in Rhythm (1989); upper right: The Pointer Sisters in He’s So Shy (1980); lower left: Tony! Toni! Tone in Let’s Get Down (1998); lower right: Huang Zitao in The Road (2016)

Music videos have also seized the Bradbury design for various moods and vibes over the decades, to include stars such as Janet Jackson, Earth Wind and Fire, Genesis, The Pointer Sisters, and even Chinese pop sensation, Huang Zitao. And don’t forget Justin Timberlake’s current hit, Say Something.

Going further into pop culture, DC and Marvel Comics created comic book characters that occupied the Bradbury Building. The actual offices of Marvel Comics had the real Bradbury Building as its home.

What is it about this one building that makes it the canvas for so many different brush strokes and stories? I argue that the Bradbury design is timeless and essential, if such concepts exist.

(A side note: Nearly every client of mine requests a design that is “warm, welcoming and timeless.” I chuckle a little, because when a client asks for these qualities, they proclaim their desires as if it was an original idea, as if it wasn’t already so obvious and cliché. I have yet to hear a client state, “I want a design that is uninviting, full of fads and will quickly go out of style!”)

How is timelessness captured? A traditional house with a porch and columns, for example, appears timeless to some, but to others, it might simply be old fashion, like some grandmother’s cottage. On the other hand, a Zaha Hadid design might appear timeless because it looks to the future. But for many critics, her architecture will only be recognized as a product of a certain chapter in time.

left: traditional house (photo from td-universe.com); right: Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku, by Zaha Hadid (photo by Alamy)

The many lives of the Bradbury Building speak to a timeless design because it succeeds at the essence of architecture, without ever being stylistic. The architecture excels at something as basic as how natural light transforms the sense of place throughout each hour of the day. In addition to Hunt’s thoughtful use of textures, colors and craft, this designer carefully explored the essentials of architecture. Space, proportion and air places the Bradbury Building in history. And I look forward to its next 100 years.

Early days of the Bradbury Building (photo from glamamor.com)

ARCHITECTURE AS THE LEAD CHARACTER

April 28, 2017

Jacob Tremblay and Brie Larson trapped in Room, 2015

In film and literature, architecture is typically the backdrop, the atmosphere, the mood. But for some inventive works, architecture is prominent, and can even be the lead character in the cast. You don’t have to be a design expert to remember powerful uses of architecture, not just as an emotional or psychological setting, but as a protagonist.

Did anyone see the independent drama film Room?

Over 50 critics named Room one of the best pictures of 2015. As impressive the performances of the actors were, the disturbing architecture of their imprisoning tiny shed left an indelible haunting impression. One vividly remembers the dismal skylight, as clearly as the unnerving voice of Old Nick.

John Cusack in Being John Malkovich, 1999

In Being John Malkovich, that enigmatic office floor had only four foot ceilings, and it played a critical role in this surreal film. As stunning as John Cusack played the unemployed puppeteer, the low ceilings crushed his spirit and body. And in an inexplicable design twist, the secret tiny door behind a file cabinet leads into the mind of actor John Malkovich, played by actor John Malkovich.

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America, 2003 (photo from themisanthropologist.wordpress.com)

The architecture of urbanity, cities themselves, can also play the feature role. In Erik Larson’s novelistic non-fiction, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America, the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair is the story’s major proponent—as a vessel for artistic legacy and murder. The serial killer even constructs a “Murder Castle”—an eerie hotel with a gas chamber, dissection table and crematorium.

In this New York Times bestseller, the ego of the murderer is matched only by the glory of the city, the ambitions of the fair, and the creativity of historically accurate architects: Burnham, Sullivan, McKim, Olmsted, and of course, Ferris (creator of the Ferris wheel).

A city itself plays the lead in Synecdoche, New York. Using the word “synecdoche,” director Charlie Kaufman references the real city of Schenectady, and also references the term that signifies how parts of something can represent the whole, and the whole represent the parts.

Within the story, the fictional director envisions a film in which a full scale mockup of the city is constructed inside a warehouse. As the story unfolds over many years, the director builds settings and scenes that are actually occurring in the real city outside the movie warehouse.

In the Grand Budapest Hotel, the hotel is treated with the same depth, nuance and care as any member from the cast of actors, as if the hotel was indeed the lead character and story.

I can’t conclude this essay without mention of Blade Runner, a cult favorite amongst architects. The work of Futurist Italian architect, Antonio Sant-Elia, influenced film director Ridley Scott and the architecture of a dystopic future Los Angeles. But as powerful as the architectural setting is, the film’s atmosphere should also credit the soundtrack and ambient design by Greek composer, Vangelis. In this neo-noir sci-fi flick, the music was as prominent as a ‘lead character’ as the production design and Harrison Ford.

The score received nominations from the Golden Globes and the British Academy. The architecture received nominations from the Golden Globes and the British Academy as well, and also the Academy Awards. Unfortunately, no actors received any accolades—not Harrison Ford, Sean Young, nor Edward James Olmos.

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