Arts: Architecture: Frank Gehry transforms Los Angeles locale, Grand Avenue towers to surround his Disney Concert Hall

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Originally published May5,2k6 on refWrite page 3.
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The Internet now offers a one-man blog devoted interestingly to architure, and sporting the polyglot name el Zeit de la arquitectura, achknowledging that the art and engineering both is internantional and language-transcending. César A's latest post as of Thursday, May 4 at 9:00 PM, features an item on Frank Gehry's vast new development of the Grand Avenue area of Los Angeles as a setting for Gehry's already built and in-use Walt Disney Concernt Hall. When you get to Zeit (as in Zeitgeist = Spirit of the Age), click from this item to Los Angeles Times (you may have to register) for the originating article by Cara Mia diMassa (Apr24,2k6)

Architect Frank O. Gehry plans to erect a translucent, glass-curtained tower rising 47 stories above his landmark Walt Disney Concert Hall as the centerpiece of the Grand Avenue project, a bold statement that would alter downtown Los Angeles' skyline and reinforce the civic center area as a hub of cutting-edge architecture.

His schematic designs, which have been eagerly anticipated in world architecture circles for months and are to be unveiled at a news conference today, call for two L-shaped towers, the 47-story structure and a 24-story building, at opposite ends of the block east of the concert hall.

The designs are for Phase 1 of an ambitious plan by developer Related Cos., philanthropist Eli Broad and top city and county officials to transform a part of downtown known as a 9-to-5 office community that turns off the lights at sunset into a vibrant place where people would live, shop and dine.

"I think that there is a desire on the part of the city and county to do something special there," Gehry said. "We are trying to make that happen, so that that connectivity would result in a sense of place that's bigger, that the whole would be greater than the sum of the parts."

There are an enlargeable pix for a bit of a better look than either Zeit or this LAT> article page can provide. There's also two Adobe Acrobat downloadable files to get a better and more detailed overview of the project.

Back to Zeit: There's also a photo of one angle on the new Jalisco Library, Guadalajara, Mexico, built by LOT*EK, another site to which you can click. The architect is A. Arcuri. A wonderful further explanation and visual of this fantastic building is explained in these terms:

Over 200 Boeing 727 and 737 fuselages are stacked in a north-south slant in relation to sun exposure for energy efficiency. Two shifts in the direction of the main axis of the fuselages generate two large open spaces within the stack.

The building utilizes the space inside the fuselages to contain and organize functions that require enclosed spaces - such as book collections, meeting rooms and administration offices, - while the 2 large open spaces house a large atrium with all the reading areas on one side and two auditoriums on the other.

The library program is centered around the large glazed atrium, which develops vertically through the entire cross section of the building. The lower part of the atrium, located on the second level and accessible directly from the new plaza thru escalators and elevators, functions as a lobby and information center. At each upper level, the reading areas bridge between the two opposite interior facades generated by the cross sections of the fuselages that look onto the atrium.

You don't want to miss the amazing large pix of the Jalisco Library in Guadalajara at this last link. Go there!

And César has more amazing architectural visuals with brief comments for you. - Anaximaximum

gheryfrank, losangelesarchitecture, guadalaharajaliscolibrary, pix

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