City of (our Lady of the) Angels

I'm not an Angeleno: I don't live in Los Angeles. I don't even live in LA County, although it is just 100 yards to the north. I don't think LA looks like a city where angels live and i don't think it looks like a city where Mary, the mother of Jesus, has much influence. Nonetheless, i do find it kind of fun to take the metrolink downtown and hop on the subway to go to the library and have cheap ice cream & great Lebanese food at Grand Central Market while i'm there. There are lots of nifty buildings to gawk at: Grand Central Station, Olvera Street, the Bradbury, the Biltmore, the DWP...

This is a view of the Bunker Hill area from the DWP building. The shiny building is Walt Disney Concert Hall and the tall colonnade building on the far left is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. I don't know the names of the other skyscrapers.

Since two of the summer's projects involved redesigning a park in downtown Los Angeles, we had several field trips out there. I'd been on a walking tour given by the Los Angeles Conservancy when i was a lot younger, too. I talked about LA a lot, and one of my friends wanted to see what downtown was like, so we went yesterday to walk around. I took her everywhere my professor took us except i forgot the new cathedral. How did i do that!? I thought it was one of the friendliest buildings downtown, and i really liked the architecture and the tapestries. Oh well. Next trip. I also didn't take her down the government building section, because it was hot (over 100F) and my feet hurt. Somehow, even wearing flip flops, her feet didn't hurt until we sat down on the train to go home!

The cathedral is probably my current favorite downtown building, right before the Bradbury. The stone is a warm color, and the building is thoroughly modern in shape although ageless in function. I like all the tables with patio umbrellas too. The Bradbury is the kind of office building i would build if i was going to build an office building--a huge skylight for a roof, and beautiful wrought iron, so that you don't even really feel like you're inside. I guess it had been used for lots of movies but i haven't seen any of them.

The Millennium Biltmore is lavishly decorated and wonderfully hushed inside, even when lots of guests are coming through. My friend and i saw someone famous, but we don't know who it was--a musician of some sort who must be a regular guest because a desk person said "Nice to have you back, sir." And everyone is polite--even though i wander around downtown in rugged sandals and a straw hat, they've politely answered my questions about the tours (LA Conservancy does them) and they don't turn up their noses. Very elegant. Someday i want to dress properly and have afternoon tea in the Rendevous Court.

And then the library. It's air-conditioned. There are drinking fountains in mosaic-covered recessed nooks. The bathrooms are clean. There are comfy reading chairs, well-lit study tables, and tons and tons of books. It's also a nifty building, going down into the ground instead of going up, and a large atrium of natural light brightens all those subterranean floors.