Imaginary Buildings

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — During the course of my normal news reading I came across this press release a few days ago. It advertises “Olive Street Tower,” which it claims

will, undoubtedly become a landmark within the Los Angeles area, projecting into the ever evolving Pacific basin.

Well, maybe, if anyone ever intended to build it…

The release says that the building will be

a 500,000+ sq. ft. complex that includes elegant appartments, office space with separate access, and a retail and services podium area.

It links to a project page that shows a few computer-rendered drawings of the building (looking very much like the Gas Company). Though it’s the “Olive Street Tower,” the building is not at all shown in context. Instead it stands alone, a generic structure that could be plopped onto any convenient plot of land.

I know that these PR services allow anyone to throw a press release out there basically for free, but I just can’t seem to figure out whose business this is going to attract. The company, “Outsource Architectural Services,” shows me nothing to suggest that they could actually design the details of such a high-rise.