The "Warmth" of Broadway Plaza

I always find it funny that people never seem to think that windows are the best way to “warm” up a wall.

Boy, I’m trying to put all these statements in context, but, were these people nuts?

Brick is basically ROCK. How “warm” is rock? Would mirrored glass have been any different? Less warm?

It’s really not the material that makes this building oppressive, it’s the utter disregard for humanity that does it. It’s the huge size of the walls. It’s the tiny slitted windows that make it look like a prison. It’s the way the building huddles and turns its back to the streetscape instead of embracing it that makes its a perfect example of paranoid design from the “urban renewal” period, one of the biggest oxymorons ever devised by the hand of man.

it will be a great day once that monstrosity is torn down and replaced with a sick mixed use project. In the mean time, add some retail to the first floor if possible, open it up to the street. that might help.

I think the area will need that parking garage if it is not already filled (the ugliness pictured, no?).

The hotel is affordable compared to many others Downtown too (doesn’t it have a rotating cocktail lounge like the Bonnaventure?).

Not sure how filled the office tower is.

But it would be nice to see some full subterranean integration with the Metro Center right across the street. Maybe something more open like 7th/Fig which spirals down to a tunnel over to the Metro.

Charles Luckman also was the architect of the original LA Convention Center, built in the early 1970s. That structure has all the appeal of a giant bus terminal or one of those monthly rental storage places.

Luckman was locally based, which unfortunately meant he had ties to the community, both social and professional, that he’d otherwise not enjoy were he located far away, in Dallas, Atlanta, New York or Chicago.

You could not ask for a better location - in the financial district, a mix of uses (office, hotel, retail), across the street from a major metro interchange, and along one of the most vibrant corridors in downtown LA. But Macy’s Plaza is far from an asset to the area.

I think they should pull the roof off of that sucker and make way for an open, pedestrian plaza. Retail along 7th Street should be reoriented to the street and the entire first 30-40’ of brick should be given a facelift and replaced by a more inviting and less oppressive facade aesthetic. That could be Phase I. For Phase II, I suggest extending the open space west (from what would be in front of the Macy’s) to 7th & Fig through mid a block pedestrian promenade, redeveloping the southern portion of the block bound by 7th/8th/Fig/Flower in the process. It could be a vibrant public space sequence activated by retail, residential, office, hotel, etc and even make a gesture towards LA Live, which isn’t all that far but not such an attractive walk.

OK, let’s start with Phase I.

I agree, this place can’t be dynamited quickly enough. But, it is too facile to dismiss our citizens from decades ago as nuts. (Although, obviously their aesthetic tastes are severely retarded.) What’s interesting to ponder is how ‘informed’ opinion of cultural elites could have anything positive to say about this monstrosity? What I always find fascinating is “What do people see?” and the corollary, “What do they not see?”

Clearly, the architectural sensibilities of the era were awful. The 70s and early 80s were awash in what I believe is called Brutalist architecture. (Naw, I didn’t google it.) Lots of hulking concrete. Just terrible. I recall as a kid experiencing these newly built structures and thinking, “Uh, really…?” I’m no historian on the subject, but clearly ‘informed’ opinion was trained in a way to look for beauty in this building, instead of just responding at a visceral level. Fortunately, our culture as evolved beyond such thinking. Or so we think.

But, here’s another thought. What is it that we have been trained to see and not see today? What absolutely idiotic sensibilities have we been inculcated with which will lead us to demolish the past and create our own monstrosities? Remember, Bunker Hill was once a picturesque and historic residential neighborhood before ‘informed’ opinion demolished it. Surely, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Recently, there was a fire downtown on Broadway. People marveled at how the property owner could disfigure such a fine building. Indeed, as downtowners we have a hard time understanding how in the past intelligent Angelenos could abandon all of downtown’s architectural splendor and turn it dumping ground for the region’s unwanted social problems. We can’t just dismiss these people as idiots because clearly the zeigeist of the times told them what they were doing made sense.

It all makes me wonder. What passes for ‘informed’ opinion today will subsequently prove to be the foolishness of our times? Just a thought.

David… I have a feeling in the future people will look at the “beautiful” Gehry architecture projects like the Disney Hall and let out an audible “WTF were those idiots thinking?!?”.

Future Angelenos will say WTF about the Caltrans Building.

The houses on Bunker Hill were considered ‘old-fashioned’ when they were torn down. The ruling elite of the 50’s and 60’s was preoccupied with applying modernism to solve social ills.

To many people of that time, I would guess that Macy’s Plaza was the perfect blend of modern design with old-school brick. The idea was to create an enclosed, controlled version of the old-style shopping street. Note the use of ‘plaza’ in the name.

The top priority was to create an environment that could be controlled. Thus, the mall looks inward, shunning the dirty and insecure street. The windows are darkened, providing patrons with the illusion of protection from the chaos outside.

All this reflects the level of decline in Downtown L.A. at that time, as well as the national fears of cultural breakdown. Unfortunately, this kind of design only served to make DTLA that much less hospitable and welcoming to the public.