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Los Angeles Architecture : L.A. Buildings

Key LA Property Developments in Southern California, United States of America

post updated October 25, 2021

Architecture in Los Angeles

We’ve selected the best examples of Los Angeles Architecture. e-architect feature completed LA buildings, new building designs, architectural exhibitions and architecture competitions across Los Angeles. The focus is on contemporary Los Angeles buildings but information on traditional LA buildings is also welcome.

We have 3 pages of Los Angeles Architecture selections with links to hundreds of individual project pages.

Los Angeles Architecture : news + key projects (this page)

Los Angeles Building Designs : A-F

Los Angeles Building Developments : G-N

Los Angeles Buildings : O-Z

Los Angeles has a strong tradition of experimental architecture and a wide range of top quality Modern houses and contemporary buildings.

Notable Los Angeles Buildings from the past include The Chemosphere by John Lautner and in the recent past the Crystal Cathedral Building design by Philip Johnson with John Burgee.
More recent LA architecture highlights inlcude Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall and the The Getty Center building by Richard Meier & Partners.

Los Angeles Architecture – Major Buildings

LA Buildings, alphabetical:

The Chemosphere, aka Malin Residence
Design: John Lautner Architect

photo : Sara Sackner

Crystal Cathedral Building
Design: Philip Johnson with John Burgee

photograph © Andrew McRae
Crystal Cathedral

The Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive
Design: Richard Meier & Partners

building picture © Alice McRae
Getty Center Building

Walt Disney Concert Hall building
Design: Frank Gehry

photo © Andrew McRae
Walt Disney Concert Hall Architecture
The Walt Disney Concert Hall is home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic and was started back in 1987, completing around 2003-04. This major Southern California cultural building is a key part of the culture hub in downtown Los Angeles, and after Museo Guggenheim Bilbao it became architect Frank Gehry’s next key work of architecture.

Key Los Angeles Buildings

Red Building at the Pacific Design Center
Design: Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects

picture : StudioAMD
Red Building Pacific Design Center
Cesar Pelli celebrated a milestone for the Red Building on Monday, as the long-awaited final building of the Pacific Design Center nears completion. The Red Building is the third building of the landmark West Hollywood showroom-and-office complex whose design and construction span nearly 40 years. The 400,000-square-foot office building is slated for occupancy by year’s end.

The Broad Art Foundation
Design: Diller Scofidio + Renfro

image from architects office
The Broad Art Foundation
Most significantly, Broad chose Grand Avenue for the home of the museum he co-founded with Edye, The Broad. The Broads had spent nearly 50 years building one of the world’s most significant collections of postwar and contemporary art, and had always wanted to bring contemporary art to the widest possible audience.

Central Los Angeles Area High School #9 for the Visual and Performing Arts
Design: Coop Himmelb(l)au with HMC Architects

photo © Duccio Malagamba
Central Los Angeles Area High School #9 for the Visual and Performing Arts
The Central Los Angeles Area High School #9 for the Visual and Performing Arts of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is part of phase II of LAUSD’s rigorous state bond funded plan to have 155 new schools built in its district by 2012. It is located on a 9.8 acre site on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles.

LACMA Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion
Design: Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW)

image from LACMA
LACMA Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion
The Resnick Exhibition Pavilion, a key feature of LACMA’s ongoing Transformation, offers a major expansion of the museum’s exhibition space and further unifies the western half of the museum’s twenty-acre campus. A single-story, 45,000 square foot structure, the Resnick Pavilion is the largest purpose-built, naturally lit, open-plan museum space in the world.

The Richard and Dion Neutra VDL Research House
1932; 1940; 1966
Richard Neutra Architect ; Richard and Dion Neutra Architects

picture : Raymond Richard Neutra
The Richard and Dion Neutra VDL Research House
This live/work space compound in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles was built in three phases. The first designed by Richard Neutra in 1932 accommodated two households and Neutra’s office. It was named after Dutch industrialist van der Leeuw who loaned Neutra the money to build it (hence “VDL”).

L.A. Building Designs

Guide to LA Architecture, alphabetical:

Cherokee Lofts, Santa Monica
Pugh + Scarpa

picture : John Edward Linden
Cherokee Lofts, western Los Angeles

Crystal Cathedral – Welcoming Center, Garden Grove, Orange County, Southern California
Richard Meier
Main building design: Philip Johnson with John Burgee

picture © Andrew McRae
Crystal Cathedral building
The reflective glass building, designed by American architect Philip Johnson, was completed in 1981 and seats 2,736 people. The largest glass building in the world, it has one of the largest musical instruments in the world, the Hazel Wright Memorial organ.

Hollywood Palladium Restoration
COE Architecture International

picture from architects
Hollywood Palladium building
Originally designed by British émigré and noted Southern California architect Gordon B. Kaufmann, architect of Hoover Dam and the Times-Mirror Building, the Palladium was in a ruinous state when COE Architecture International started work on it in 2008.