rhythmic Miesian composition has been com-
promised by the removal of the vertical piers
and the introduction of floor-to-ceiling green
mitered windows, chosen to improve an already
outstanding view and increase the value of the
apartments; the building is now a nondescript
green glass tower. The renovation, still incom-
plete after six years, was begun at a time when
residential development was more lucrative
than commercial, and received more financial
incentives from a city anxious for housing near
its new subway. Ironically, L.A. is now in dire
need of office space; as of 2006, at least 30%
of the downtown inventory had been converted
to housing. CIM owns 14 other properties in
anamaker/Bison Archives.
Hollywood, with most slated for mixed conver-
sions with major residential components.
The Sunset-Vine Tower represents a scenario,
tesy Marc W repeated all too often, that hobbles efforts to
Cour
preserve the recent past. In a 2005 letter to
the Community Redevelopment Agency, LAC
noted that notions of beauty and taste cannot
be the criteria for determining and protecting
historic resources. What is critical, they said, is
verifiable historic, architectural and/or cultural
significance — criteria well met in the original
Sunset-Vine Tower design. Before the late ‘90s,
midcentury modern buildings were considered
too small, cold or otherwise undesirable. Now
it’s difficult to afford a good midcentury mod-
ern house in the Hollywood Hills. It is unlikely,
in today’s design environment, that the elegant
Sunset Tower would have been plundered so
easily. Clearly, a good restoration of the Lescaze
CBS complex and the preservation of the Capitol
Records building will further the cause of pres-
ervation in Hollywood and bring hope that the
area’s many other modern resources will get
anamaker/Bison Archives.
the attention they deserve. n
Contributing Editor Beth Edwards Harris is
tesy Marc W
an architectural historian and writer focusing
Cour
on the intersection of 20th-century culture and
Above John Austin Architect, NBC Building, 1938 (demolished in 1963).
architecture. She is also a preservation advocate,
serving as Southern California Vice President of
Top William Lescaze, CBS Building and Columbia Square
(under restoration), 1940.
the California Preservation Foundation (CPF).
She is currently planning CPF’s 2009 annual
conference in Palm Springs, California, which will
The Sunset-Vine Tower (1964) is one casualty of hasty redevelopment. While not
feature tours and educational sessions on the
fully demolished, the building is being remodeled by CIM Properties into a luxu-
preservation of iconic and vernacular midcentury
ry apartment building. The original tower, designed in 1960 by local architects
modern buildings and sites.
Honnold, Reibsamen & Rex, was L.A.’s first and only Miesian skyscraper, perfect
in its classic tripartite composition, with a base of freestanding columns and office
floors contained by two strong continuous vertical piers on each façade, topped
by a cornice. The building was set back from the street on a quintessentially
Bonus Content Online
sparse modernist plaza, which turned the corner of Sunset and Vine into a public
Look here for dining options,
space, while the famous location attracted business tenants. The new residential
shopping, nightlife and house
design replaces the public plaza with retail stores that extend to the sidewalk. The and studio tours.
84
www.modernismmagazine.com
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