SurveyLA Historic Context- L.A. Modernism, 1919-1980

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SurveyLA Historic Context- L.A. Modernism, 1919-1980

Site overview

SurveyLA is a one of its kind endeavor, diving deep into the history of the built environment in Los Angeles and how it has shaped the city and region. "L.A. Modernism, 1919-1980" explores the maturation of the Modernist style across Los Angeles and how this style perhaps more than any other came to define our conceptions of the City of Angels. Through intense survey work, "L.A. Modernism" tracks the development of Prewar styles, Postwar styles, and architectural responses to both, featuring works from prolific architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Irving Gill, Richard Neutra, and many others. This extraordinary compendium is easily accessible through the Department of City Planning, and is written on a level that all enthusiats of modern architecture can understand and enjoy.

SurveyLA Historic Context- L.A. Modernism, 1919-1980

Site overview

SurveyLA is a one of its kind endeavor, diving deep into the history of the built environment in Los Angeles and how it has shaped the city and region. "L.A. Modernism, 1919-1980" explores the maturation of the Modernist style across Los Angeles and how this style perhaps more than any other came to define our conceptions of the City of Angels. Through intense survey work, "L.A. Modernism" tracks the development of Prewar styles, Postwar styles, and architectural responses to both, featuring works from prolific architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Irving Gill, Richard Neutra, and many others. This extraordinary compendium is easily accessible through the Department of City Planning, and is written on a level that all enthusiats of modern architecture can understand and enjoy.

SurveyLA Historic Context- L.A. Modernism, 1919-1980

Site overview

SurveyLA is a one of its kind endeavor, diving deep into the history of the built environment in Los Angeles and how it has shaped the city and region. "L.A. Modernism, 1919-1980" explores the maturation of the Modernist style across Los Angeles and how this style perhaps more than any other came to define our conceptions of the City of Angels. Through intense survey work, "L.A. Modernism" tracks the development of Prewar styles, Postwar styles, and architectural responses to both, featuring works from prolific architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Irving Gill, Richard Neutra, and many others. This extraordinary compendium is easily accessible through the Department of City Planning, and is written on a level that all enthusiats of modern architecture can understand and enjoy.

SurveyLA Historic Context- L.A. Modernism, 1919-1980

Site overview

SurveyLA is a one of its kind endeavor, diving deep into the history of the built environment in Los Angeles and how it has shaped the city and region. "L.A. Modernism, 1919-1980" explores the maturation of the Modernist style across Los Angeles and how this style perhaps more than any other came to define our conceptions of the City of Angels. Through intense survey work, "L.A. Modernism" tracks the development of Prewar styles, Postwar styles, and architectural responses to both, featuring works from prolific architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Irving Gill, Richard Neutra, and many others. This extraordinary compendium is easily accessible through the Department of City Planning, and is written on a level that all enthusiats of modern architecture can understand and enjoy.

SurveyLA Historic Context- L.A. Modernism, 1919-1980

Site overview

SurveyLA is a one of its kind endeavor, diving deep into the history of the built environment in Los Angeles and how it has shaped the city and region. "L.A. Modernism, 1919-1980" explores the maturation of the Modernist style across Los Angeles and how this style perhaps more than any other came to define our conceptions of the City of Angels. Through intense survey work, "L.A. Modernism" tracks the development of Prewar styles, Postwar styles, and architectural responses to both, featuring works from prolific architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Irving Gill, Richard Neutra, and many others. This extraordinary compendium is easily accessible through the Department of City Planning, and is written on a level that all enthusiats of modern architecture can understand and enjoy.

Awards

Documentation

Citation of Merit

The jury awards an Inventory/Survey Citation of Merit for the SurveyLA Historic Context Statement – L.A. Modernism, 1919-1980. SurveyLA is a one-of-a-kind endeavor, diving deep into the history of the built environment in Los Angeles and how it has shaped the city and region. It is the largest and most comprehensive survey of historic resources completed by an American city to date. The Historic Context Statement on L.A. Modernism explores the maturation of modernism across Los Angeles and how this style came to define our concept of the city. Through intense survey work, this project tracks the development of Prewar styles, Postwar styles, and architectural responses to both, featuring works from prolific architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Irving Gill, Richard Neutra, and many others. This compendium is easily accessible through the Department of City Planning and is written on a level that all enthusiasts of modern architecture can understand and enjoy. Given the lack of context statements for modern resources at state and municipal levels country-wide, SurveyLA is a model for others to follow. 

“This is a thorough, expansive, and breathtaking resource. It is generously inclusive of both mundane and refined works of architecture. It is a great resource to consult for scholarly pursuits while not being overly academic.”

- Angel Ayón, AIA, LEED AP, NCARB, NOMA, 2022 Jury member
Client

City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning: Ken Bernstein, Janet Hansen, Shannon Ryan, Sara Delgadillo

Restoration Team

Architectural Resources Group (Project Lead and Principal Author): Katie Horak, Andrew Goodrich

Location

Los Angeles, California

Country

United States

Related News

General Description

SurveyLA is the largest and most comprehensive survey of historical resources completed by an American city to this day, with over 500 square miles and 880,000 individual parcels of land were surveyed. One component of the survey, "L.A. Modernism, 1919-1980," published in August 2021, delves through an extraordinary breadth of information charting the progression of Modernism in Los Angeles over the course of the twentieth century. Each of the three themes (Prewar Modernism, Related Responses to Modernism, and Postwar Modernism) includes a robust narrative history of the style being discussed and addresses every example and derivative represented in the built environment of Los Angeles. This includes everything from early International Style constructions, the work of pioneers like Wright and Schindler, the Art Deco and Hollywood Regency styles, New Formalist, Googie and many other unique contributions to the form of Los Angeles from across the twentieth century. More than just a survey, this work places the development of Modern architecture in Los Angeles in context and explores how it evolved and matured while being accessible to the public in terms of complexity and access (its on the Department of City Planning's website). SurveyLA, and in patricular "L.A. Modernism, 1919-1980" is a loving dive into the deep ties of modern architecture to Los Angeles and how its helped shape the city to the current day.