CITY REPORT
anamaker/Bison Archives.
tesy Marc W
Cour
Starchitecture
Saving Modernist Hollywood
By Beth edwards harris
Hollywood has been the world’s undisputed center of entertain- By the 1980s, the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency
ment since its founding at the beginning of the 20th century. Its (CRA) had essentially written off Hollywood and, with the blessing
mother city, Los Angeles, has long depended on it to generate of many politicians, began to turn it over piecemeal to private
billions of industry and tourist tax dollars. More than the birthplace developers. Early preservation efforts by the volunteer organiza-
of motion pictures, it ushered in the eras of live radio, television tion Hollywood Heritage did not get far, and as recently as 10
and the record business, each industry requiring unique architec- years ago, Hollywood’s famous thoroughfares — including Sunset,
tural solutions. But Hollywood has seen its share of setbacks over Hollywood and Vine — were so down and out that architecture critic
the years; the first arrived in the 1930s during the Depression, Nicolai Ouroussoff questioned the area’s ability to make a come-
followed at midcentury with the completion of the Hollywood back. But today, thanks to the persistence of Hollywood Heritage
Freeway and the ensuing urban flight. Then, with the ‘70s, came and efforts by groups like the Los Angeles Conservancy (LAC), who
the first of several real estate declines. Despite the enduring glitter have elicited the support of A-list stars like Diane Keaton, Ben
of its reputation, the district that comprises historic Hollywood Stiller, Ellen DeGeneres and Jack Nicholson, Hollywood is well on
has, in fact, been languishing for years. Unsentimental about its the way to preserving its history.
heritage, Hollywood leaders have routinely destroyed or unkindly One engine of this new momentum is the current enthusiasm
revamped exceptional buildings from one era to suit the needs of for midcentury modernist architecture, a cause célèbre among the
the next. As early as 1956, a prominent developer demolished entertainment elite, who have been snapping up the most desirable
the legendary 1903 Mission-style Hollywood Hotel for a swank midcentury houses, including Lautners and Neutras, in Silver Lake
new resort that was never built. Modernist buildings saw similar and other upscale sections of the Hollywood Hills. The new-found
carnage, including the 1961 demolition of the Art Deco NBC Radio passion for modernism has also encouraged some developers and
Building (1937). By the 1970s, Hollywood was more an idea than politicians to consider saving and reusing Hollywood’s modernist
a place, and although tourists and Hollywood hopefuls continued commercial buildings, rather than tearing them down.
to come in search of Tinseltown, when they got off the bus at These buildings mirrored the innovative and technological
Hollywood and Vine, they found very little. thinking that drove the entertainment business. While many think
80 www.modernismmagazine.com