The Los Angeles Times Building by Michael S. Ellars Copyright Fall 1997 All Rights Reserved Stationed stoically at the southwest corner of First and Spring Streets, the Los Angeles Times North Building stands in stark contrast to the dynamic nature of the corporation it houses. Every passer-by recognizes the building for what it is; yet few ta ke the time to really look at it critically. Unlike some people, who would take this passivity offensively, it is the sign of a good, urban building that does not unduly distract the myriad inhabitants scurrying about below. Indeed, if it affects the li fe of an average citizen at all, the Times building simply provides the knowledge that someone is watching1. (Given the current negative public attitude towards The Times, it would seem that this is a malevolent observation...) A discussion of the buildings of the Los Angeles Times is incomplete without a complementary discussion of the corporation and its people. The Times and its buildings have had a long and very politically controversial history. The Los Angeles Times was founded in the late autumn of 1881 as a conservative, upstart daily newspaper designed to challenge the two existing, "decidedly Democratic newspapers."2 The paper did not do well during its first few months, prompting its founders to sell their shares of the Los Angeles Times to General Harrison Gray Otis. General Otis was a no-nonsense military-man-turned-publisher. Otis was outstandingly "pro-Los Angeles," a theme which he ingrained into the collective psyche of The Times. He was also "the sworn enemy of everything socialist and pro-union, and always t he dominant figure in the titanic wars between labor and capital."3 The nature of the original Times building that Otis "inherited" has been lost to time and memory. Of all the information available regarding the birth of the Los Angeles Times itself, none explicitly mentions the building that originally housed what was to become one of America's premiere daily newspapers. One can guess that the building was a mundane structure similar to others of the budding downtown of the late 1800s. Given that The Times was probably only one tenant in a string of many to inhabit it, the first Times building is of little consequence. What is important, however, is the second Times building: this was the first building specifically designed for the Los Angeles Times. The downtown core of this time was very different from the downtown of today. As late as 1864, the area was actually residential; it was not until the 1880s that the land east of Bunker Hill became increasingly part of a new concentration of commercial and public buildings. The Los Angeles Times fit in well as a tenant of this burgeoning tract of land, an upstart company in an upstart region. In 1893, General Otis was energized from a tremendous court victory over the powerful typographic union. To celebrate, he built a new structure to house The Times (the second Times building) at the northeast corner of First and Fort (now Broadway) Stree ts; this building opened in 1897.4 The second Times building featured "menacing battlements and a rapacious eagle perched on the uppermost tower," creating the strong impression that the building was actually "a fort."5 The tower was probably the most d istinctive feature of the entire design, bringing to mind the family and town-hall towers of Renaissance Italy towns; and like those towers of old, Otis' new tower was also a reminder of the political influence of its inhabitants. In one of the great twists of cosmic irony, the building in which Otis had invested so much time to ensure its "impenetrable" facade was destroyed with nine sticks of dynamite in 1910. The explosion killed twenty-one workers and completely leveled the b uilding. Sadly, the bombers attack only netted death: production of the Times was not affected, as printing immediately moved to the Times' emergency facility in what is today Chinatown. This "large brick facility" had been built by Otis in 1906 follow ing the San Francisco earthquake; following the terrorist strike on the second Times building, it would be used for several months until a new Times building could be built.6 The third Times building was completed one year later as a temporary replacement. It was situated on the rubble of its predecessor at the corner of First and Fort (now Broadway). A 1914 motion picture starring Charlie Chaplin is the only moving picture record of the third Times building.7 Even though it was only intended as a temporary home, it remained the Times' primary facility until 1937, when the fourth Times building was completed and the third was demolished. (It is interesting to note here that my research uncovered another building which was erected after the third Times building. Located midway between First and Second Streets on Broadway, little overt physical evidence has survived. Inside the Times com plex, however, evidence of this "third-and-a-half" building, called the Times Broadway Building, abounds in the subterranean levels beneath the Times Mirror Corporate Building and the executive parking garage! Why this structure is not mentioned in any o f the Times' literature is as confusing as it is frustrating. From the information collected, the only thing certain is that it is older than the Times North Building.8) The fourth Times building's official name is The Los Angeles Times North Building; in company lingo, "Times North." It is this building with which this paper is concerned. It was built between 1934 and 1935 on the southwest corner of First and Spring Streets, across the street from the site of the two previous Times buildings. The location of Times North has a long and varied history. Originally used for middle-income "pioneer" housing in the 1860s, by the 1880s it had grown to be the "Civic Center core" of downtown Los Angeles. Then the block housed the original Overland Stage Terminal and the Nadeau Hotel, as well as a variety of other commercial buildings in a "beautiful row of Victorian buildings."9 Most of these buildings were demolished in a variety of urban renewal projects. The Los Angeles Times bought the lot at the southwest corner of First and Spring in 1934, and by the middle of the 1970s owned and occupied the entire block! This site was chosen for rather obvious reasons. First and foremost is its proximity to the third Times Building (across the street), which was still in use even after the completion of the new building. Second, and perhaps more subtle, is its location near City Hall. Harry Chandler, Otis' successor to The Times, continued the General's belief that The Times should be close to the "center of action" in Los Angeles. As such, proximity to City Hall and other government facilities, such as the Courthouse, was paramount.10 "It is but a stone's throw to the city, county, state and Federal buildings, facilitating the gathering of the volume of news emanating from these offices."11 Chandler's choice for the architect of the Los Angeles Times North Building was Gordon Bernie Kaufmann (1888-1949), a relatively famous architect known for his Californian blend of detailed Mediterranean Classicism and the clean forms of Modernism. Kauf mann enjoyed a wildly successful career. His many projects include the Athenaeum at the California Institute of Technology (Pasadena), which was immortalized in Beverly Hills Cop; the Santa Anita Race Track in Arcadia; the San Pedro Senior High School; a nd (after the Times Building) the Hoover, Grand Coulee, and Shasta Dams.12 Chandler intended The Los Angeles Times North Building, like the second Times building, to give the impression of an impregnable fort. Kaufmann did not disappoint. His conceptual form was the basilica, which he had used a few years earlier in a library at Scripps College. "The massing of the building outlines the interior space of a cathedral, translated to a slid form... The ecclesiastical persona of the building was most likely intentional."13 Even though the grand space of the "nave" is destroyed by a dozen floor divisions, the basic structural system of the basilica remains: (the appearance of) large bearing walls along the sides, combined with massive interior colonnades running the length of the building. The original purpose of Times North was, as mentioned before, a permanent replacement for the second Times building. After it was completed, Chandler "proclaimed it as 'a monument to the progress of our city and Southern California.'"14 Although some f unctions have moved to nearby structures since its dedication, Times North is still the primary home to the editorial and copy departments. Decidedly Modernist in its elementary treatment of forms, the Los Angeles Times North Building embodies Kaufmann's rejection of the "less-is-more" mentality in his creative use of ornament where it is called for: the pilasters are highly ornamented, yet the panels of the facade behind them are starkly blank. Still, decoration is "used sparingly on the exterior... relying principally on the mass effects of its various sections, and the vertical lines of its columns, for eye appeal."15 The effect of Kaufmann's design is to create a monolithic marker of the strength of The Times and its integrity against the perils of outside influence and corruption. The choice of materials for Chandler's monument was "reinforced concrete, completely fire and earthquake-proof."16 It took "4200 tons of steel, 150,000 sacks of cement, [and] 75 miles of electrical wire ... to create six acres of floor space."17 The Lo s Angeles Times North Building cost $4,000,000, in 1935 dollars, to construct - and of that, only $1,150,000 was spent on land and equipment!18 Chandler had asked for a massive building, both physically and aesthetically, and Kaufmann had delivered it to him. Kaufmann's architectural brilliance is best described by Harris Allen, an architectural writer at the time, in an article that appeared in Architect and Engineer: The design effectively disguises that it contains a power plant, and its three printing plants have an internal system to connect to either internally generated power or public utility lines. One floor contains a narrow-gauge railway for taking paper to a gas incinerator for quick disposal. The building was also completely air-conditioned and was soundproofed, as the printing plant was on the lower floors and all the offices on the upper floors. The strong construction and fireproofing was owing to a b ombing of the Times by labor unions in 1910. A comparison of a rendering from the design phase with a photograph of the actual building in a 1937 publication shows no detectable differences.19 After the removal of the printing plants to The Times' Olympic printing facility in the late 1980s, major renovations of the building began. The former press room has been gutted and is in the process of being converted from a single three-story space to two floors of office space and a lower floor of storage.20 The areas along Spring Street, formerly occupied by the loading docks (no longer necessary because no printing takes place), is currently under renovation to become a new employee cafeteria an d auditorium.21 However, these are not the only changes The Los Angeles Times North Building has experienced over the course of its history. Between 1947 and 1948, the Times South Building (the first major addition) was added to The Los Angeles Times Building. The Times South Building (designed by Rowland H. Crawford, Architect) is essentially a low-rise (ten-story) office building. In a bl atant - yet futile - attempt to "link" with Times North, the white-clad structure conforms to the extruded basilica shape. In the end, however, the effect is almost completely lost: in place of the long, graceful, vertical lines of pilasters present in the fourth Times building, Times South employs the horizontal "ribbon windows" of modern skyscrapers. The result is less than effective and painfully demonstrates the younger architect's lack of understanding of Kaufmann's mastery of architecture. The second major addition, the Times Mirror Corporate Building, completed The Times' takeover of an entire city block. Its presence at the southeast corner of First and Broadway, combined with the executive parking garage (which was built over the old B roadway Building) and the two previous Times buildings, creates the Los Angeles Times Mirror Square. Unfortunately, it is nowhere near as kind to Times North as is Times South. The Times Mirror addition is an absolutely hideous Modernist composition of black-glass boxes that is far more appalling than appealing. The addition literally penetrates The Los Angeles Times North Building, attaching itself along the west facade of th e latter like some insidious leech from the deep. (Compounding the other problems the fourth Times building faces is the fact that its penetration was never sealed correctly, causing flooding in the connecting halls whenever it rains.22) That the black- glass boxes are "eroded" at the ground level only exacerbates the dismal quality of the design: instead of the passive observation of the original, the addition creates the impression that passers-by are actively being watched. It is little wonder, then, why most people prefer to walk on the other side of the street! The many additions are not the only sources of blame for The Los Angeles Times North Building's woes. Because it was built in the 1930s, the building makes heavy use of the wonderfully fire-resistant substance known as asbestos. Thus, The Times has spe nt an enormous amount of money over the last several years to have the asbestos either removed or rendered harmless through abatement. According to at least one source, there were also minor problems with the structural integrity of the original (surpris ingly unrelated to its additions) that are also currently under repair and retrofit operations.23 As a testament to Kaufmann's structural genius, however, the damage from earthquakes has been kept to a minimum: mostly cosmetic damage around expansion jo ints within the building. Currently, major work is also involved on the roof of Times North. There, new cooling towers for the building's HVAC systems are being installed, as well as improved chemical treatment facilities. Because of this work, the main lobby of Times North is temporarily inaccessible. When it reopens next summer, however, the public will once again be able to view the breathtaking space, complete with its Hugo Ballin murals (reminiscent of those by the Work Projects Administration during the 1930s), and the g iant globe which brings to mind images of the Daily Planet in Metropolis.24 Sources of information directly applicable to Times North are not the only means to analyze this beautiful building. Further discussion will therefore involve the ideas of Aldo Rossi (The Architecture of the City), Robert Venturi (Complexity and Contrad iction in Architecture), and Anthony Jackson (Reconstructing Architecture for the Twenty-first Century). The Los Angeles Times Building is a prime example of what Rossi would call a "propelling element."25 It is distinctly not a pathological element because it is still in use, shaping the use of the cityscape around it even today. Although its function h as changed over the years - it is no longer the primary printing facility, nor does it house the executive offices - it remains very much in use as the editorial and copy departments' headquarters. Yet if it is a propelling element, what exactly is it pr opelling? Rossi might argue that The Los Angeles Times Building, by remaining so stoically solid amid the turmoil of the city around it (not to mention its own violent penetration), acts as an anchor of peace and stability, providing an island of calm am id a sea of chaos. Sadly, though, today Times North does not really have any neighbors: it is bordered to the south and west by sister buildings; across Spring Street is a vacant commercial building; across First Street is an empty lot; and across the i ntersection is a civic park. The empty lot was originally a park; after a failed attempt to erect a federal building there, it will soon be returned to its original condition, fulfilling Rossi's description of a propelling element! Without a doubt, Venturi would be proud of Kaufmann's staunch refusal to give in to the simple, pure forms of Modern architecture, vowing instead to use ornament whenever appropriate to the design. The Los Angeles Times Building exemplifies this. Where strong lines of structure were needed, Kaufmann wisely left ornament off his design. But in between the powerful elements - for example, over window and door openings - Kaufmann's imagination was free to design fanciful images to delight those who were to experience the building. Rather than appearing as artificial appliqué, however, Kaufmann's use of historical elements blends with the powerful Modernist forms at the heart of The Los Angeles Times North Building. Jackson's argument that most architects blindly follow a prescribed style, rather than innovate a new one more appropriate to the local context, falls short when one looks at this building by Kaufmann. The time in which he completed most of his designs (the 1920s and 1930s) was marked by the radical architectural shift to Modernism. But rather than accept Modernism as the panacea Le Corbusier and others promised, Kaufmann intelligently examined the facts and determined that Modernism was not ideally si tuated for the climate of southern California. Instead, Kaufmann drew on his experiences in the Mediterranean countries of Europe, with their similar climates, and innovated a new style of architecture. (This would come to be called the "California styl e," which Kaufmann and many other architects are credited with creating.) Thus, Jackson's call for architects to create a vernacular architecture, relevant to specific contexts, is inherent in Kaufmann's designs. But just how does The Los Angeles Times North Building reflect the California style? First and foremost is its complex use of simple forms. (This is yet another aspect of the design with which Rossi would be pleased.) The cube, the pilaster, and the r ibbon window - turned on end - are all elements of Modernist architecture that Kaufmann appropriated and combined to create a Classical form: the basilica. Second is its use of reinforced concrete. Though many of Kaufmann's smaller designs utilized woo d and stucco construction, a hallmark of the California style is the artistic use of reinforced concrete. (This as opposed to a purely structural use.) And with over seven thousand tons of concrete used in Times North, one could hardly argue against its qualifications. Despite the partial destruction of The Los Angeles Times North Building's magnificent facade, the building remains one of the premiere landmarks of Los Angeles under twenty stories. It has maintained its stately poise on the corner of First and Spring S treets for over sixty years. The citizens of Los Angeles can count on its continuing sentry over the streets of Los Angeles for many years to come. [word count: 3,069] Bibliography Los Angeles Times. "A Chronological History of the Times." Los Angeles Times Online. Available on the Internet at http:// www.latimes.com/HOME/ABOUTLAT/HISTORY/chrono.htm. Accessed October 1997. Allen, Harris. "It Can Happen Here: A Classical Scholar Learns a Modern Language." Architect and Engineer 129 (1937): 16, 21. Burchfield, Brian, Maintenance Mechanic for the Los Angeles Times. Private tour of mechanical facilities, 24 November 1997. Ferguson, James R. " News Plant." Architect and Engineer (March 1935): 47-49. Gebhard, David, and Harriette von Breton. L.A. in the Thirties: 1931-1941. United States of America: Peregrine Smith, 1975. Grenier, Judson A., ed. A Guide to Historic Places in Los Angeles County. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendal/Hunt Publishing Company, 1978. Kuehn, Gernot. Views of Los Angeles. Los Angeles: Portriga Publications, 1978. Kunitomi, Darrell, Community Affairs Representative for the Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times daily tour. 3 November 1997. Los Angeles Times Communications Department. Facts About the Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles: Los Angeles Times Communications Department, 1996. "Los Angeles Times New $4,000,000 Home Combines Beauty and Efficiency: Magnificent Marble and Limestone Structure is Air-Conditioned Throughout And Protected Against Earthquake Tremors." Editor & Publisher 68, no. 13 (1935): 1-12. Muntz, Jan Furey. "Gordon B. Kaufmann: Californian Classicism." Johnson, Kaufmann, Coate: Partners in the California Style. Santa Barbara, California: Capra Press, 1992. Rieff, David. Los Angeles: Capital of the Third World. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991. Rolfe, Lionel. "The Price of History: 1902 Higgins Building To Gain If St. Vibiana's Falls." Los Angeles Downtown News Online. Available on the Internet at http://losangelesdowntown.com/Newsmakers/ HigginsBuilding.html. Accessed October 1997. Roseman, Curtis C., and Geoffrey DeVerteuil. "Los Angeles Times Building." USC Geography Downtown Los Angeles Walking Tour. Available on the Internet at http://www.usc.edu/dept/geography/lawalk/civic/ times.html. Accessed October 1997. Rossi, Aldo. The Architecture of the City. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1982. Venturi, Robert. Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1977. Wilson, Richard Guy. "Gordon B. Kaufmann and Modernism." Johnson, Kaufmann, Coate: Partners in the California Style. Santa Barbara, California: Capra Press, 1992. Work Projects Administration. Los Angeles: A Guide to the City and Its Environs. New York: Hastings House, 1941. Endnotes 1 Darrell Kunitomi of The Los Angeles Times, Public relations tour, Los Angeles, 3 November 1997. 2 Los Angeles Times Communications Department, Facts About the Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles: Los Angeles Times Communications Department, 1996), 31. 3 Lionel Rolfe, "The Price of History: 1902 Higgins Building To Gain If St. Vibiana's Falls," Los Angeles Downtown News Online, 1996 [newspaper online]; available from http://losangelesdowntown.com/ Newsmakers/HigginsBuilding.html; Internet; accessed Octo ber 1997. 4 Los Angeles Times, "A Chronological History of the Times," Los Angeles Times Online, 1997 [newspaper online]; available from http://www.latimes.com/HOME/ABOUTLAT/HISTORY/chrono.htm; Internet; accessed October 1997. 5 Rolfe, "Price of History." 6 Los Angeles Times, "Chronological History." 7 Ibid. 8 Brian Burchfield of the Los Angeles Times, Private tour of mechanical facilities, Los Angeles, 24 November 1997. 9 Gernot Kuehn, Views of Los Angeles (Los Angeles: Portriga Publications, 1978), 20. 10 Curtis C. Roseman and Geoffrey DeVerteuil, "Los Angeles Times Building," USC Geography Downtown Los Angeles Walking Tour, 1997 [online resource]; available from http://www.usc.edu/dept/geography/lawalk/civic/ times.html; Internet; accessed October 1997 . 11 "Los Angeles Times New $4,000,000 Home Combines Beauty and Efficiency: Magnificent Marble and Limestone Structure Is Air-Conditioned Throughout And Protected Against Earthquake Tremors," Editor & Publisher 68, no. 13 (1935): 1. 12 Jan Furey Muntz, "Gordon B. Kaufmann: Californian Classicism," Johnson, Kaufmann, Coate: Partners in the California Style (Santa Barbara, California: Capra Press, 1992), 34-40 passim. 13 Ibid., 36. 14 Ibid., idem. 15 "Times New Home," 2. 16 James R. Ferguson, "News Plant," Architect and Engineer (March 1935): 47-49. 17 Muntz, 36. 18 "Times New Home," 1. 19 Harris Allen, "It Can Happen Here: A Classical Scholar Learns a Modern Language," Architect and Engineer 129 (1937): 16, 21. 20 Burchfield, 24 November 1997. 21 Kunitomi, 3 November 1997. 22 Ibid. 23 Ibid. 24 Burchfield, 24 November 1997. 25 Aldo Rossi, The Architecture of the City (Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1982), 59.